[dogbyte12]

A libertarian economist talking about theoretical solutions vs reality has the world's greatest pair of brass ones.

[MonroeDNA]

This out to irritate the unionists.

[theFIRMbss]

>"...most capital leaving the United States, including manufacturing investment, flows to other high-wage countries, such as Canada and Europe."

This writer is nuts.
EVERYTHING we buy is made
in China. Get real.

[Tauzero]

"He claims that two centuries of economic thought in support of free trade, dating back to Adam Smith and David Ricardo, have been overturned by new developments and his own unique insights."

The author either hasn't read Adam Smith himself or is being dishonest and relying on the ignorance of readers.

Either way, I stopped reading after that.

[Tauzero]

O.K. I read a little further.

"His theory utterly fails to explain why most capital leaving the United States, including manufacturing investment, flows to other high-wage countries, such as Canada and Europe."

If it cost nothing to set up shop in India then, by definition, zero US capital investment would flow to India.

[harpseal]

A Free trade hit piece

On or off this list let me know.

[meadsjn]

The recent writings of Paul Craig Roberts fit the mold. He claims that two centuries of economic thought in support of free trade, dating back to Adam Smith and David Ricardo, have been overturned by new developments and his own unique insights. But reality is more straightforward, and far less ominous, than he depicts.

When the writer starts off with such a blatant untruth, a healthy dose of skepticism is called for regarding the rest of his article.

This country started with tariffs on imports as the major tax base. Protectionism for the benefit of economic stability and national security was the rule rather than the exception, until the last few decades of treason by elected officials of both parties.

One of the few Constitutional duties of the federal government is to negotiate international trade, to the best interests of their employers, the taxpayers and voters of the United States.

It is curious that police-state neo-cons are suddenly using libertarian sources to support their invalid arguments.

[searchandrecovery]

I wish he would tell us where he got his facts (e.g. American companies invest less than $2 billion a year in China, and far less in India.).

[A. Pole]

Telecommunications technology does indeed allow a new range of services to be traded today, but that trade is still subject to the same economic constraints as trade in goods.

What a moron! "Exporting" jobs means eliminating American production in order to increase imports. Perfect way to emulate Argentina.

[mo]

Quite frankly the incentive to investment overseas is that the offshore dollar, after adjusting to the local tax and regulatory structure and to the exchange rate, is worth over twice what it is domestically. Almost every other country, outside Western Europe, has an "immature" tax and regulatory environment -that in the USA effectively taxes us at about a 60% rate.

[1rudeboy]

I was planning on posting this, but I found yours during a search. The replies following are a hoot.