Fam62c

Protectionism vs. Pragmatism

We should protect our markets to the same degree that other countries do. Sometimes I think that we are suckers for allowing everyone in the world to just load up the ships and send everything they want over here with very few restrictions. Most other countries (especially China and most other Asian countries) are way more protective of their home markets and industries. I've got no problem with allowing foreign companies to compete with US companies but there needs to be a level playing field. I say that every country should be able to send as much stuff to the USA as they buy from the USA. After that if they want additional access to our markets they should have to do what Honda and Toyota do and build product for the US market in the USA.....you want to sell it here you make it here. We would have to make some exceptions for things like oil that we can't produce enough of at home until we can find solutions to those problems. This would result in cost increases on some products but I believe the benefits would outweigh the negatives.

It's our own fault; we wanted to have everything and we wanted things cheap so we could have more stuff. Cheap stuff needs to be made cheaply with cheap labor and that's where it all started. I, for one, would be willing to pay a little more for some items and have less stuff if it meant more decent jobs for my family members and friends.

A little protectionism isn't a bad thing; "free trade" isn't free, it's come at a huge price for the USA. Other countries benefit more than we do from free trade and our wealth gets transferred away. It's a zero-sum game and as the rest of the world begins to have a middle class for the first time we will see our middle class shrink away to nothing. Almost everything that we consume in the USA can be made right here. After WWII we were the producer for the whole world, now all we do is consume all the stuff that's made everywhere else. I welcome competition from foreigh companies ( we don't want to choke off innovation and force people to buy poor quality) as long as they invest in the USA and build plants here, if they are going to take they should have to give as well. We have the most valuable consumer markets in the world and we are stupid to give access way for free with nothing in return for the American people but a large selection of cheap crap.