Harry, It all depends on what you mean by "free trade."
What is your position of trading with another country where: there are little no environmental laws, where there is use of child labour, where there is use of prison labour, etc. The dilemma is: while there may be short term benefits to the country that imports from such a country, what does this do to the economic prospects of the importing country: employment, industrial integrity (hollowing out) etc. arthur -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harry Pollard Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 1:07 PM To: [email protected]; 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: Re: [Futurework] NASA press release Mike, Seems to me that you express well the present annoyance and anger against big government. I wonder how large the book would be if we listed all the local, national, and international acronyms. However, you made an error with "free trade dogma". >From the beginning humans have traded and trade and peace are synonymous. (Trade is an early victim of war.) The ability to exchange - to trade - is the magic bullet that increases well-being, that multiplies production from the same input. This is hardly a "dogma". It's what people naturally do. So, who would want to stop or reduce free exchanges? Obviously, those who want to remove any competition that would make them reduce excessive pricing - that would make them give good value in the marketplace. If a producer can get Congress to impose protective tariffs on imports, he'll make a lot of money. As happens for example in the auto industry where the large unions support this path to monopoly profit for they want a piece of the action. (Congress does well too for they don't do nuttin' for nuttin'.) The question is who pays for the profits and the huge pay and benefits of the union? The answer is the hundreds of millions of people who mostly have to survive on much less than engorged union pay. At one point I noted that tariffs added some $1,500 to the cost of a car, but I have no idea what it adds now. There are close to 9,000 tariffs, quotas, and other restraints to trade on the American legislative books. You should perhaps refer to the tariff dogma one of these days. Harry -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Spencer Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 2:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Futurework] Re: NASA press release > I wonder how long before they send the missionaries? > > REH Right after they send in the guys from the IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, ICSID [1] and Harvard to restructure (whatever passes for) the economy and inculcate the resident plasmoids, spicules, cryatalloids or whatever with free trade dogma. We're no longer very concerned about their souls or their deviant cultural antics so long as they'll just shut up and shop. [2] [1] IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IDA International Development Association IFC International Finance Corporation MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ICSID International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes [2] Do I *really* have to put a smiley there? No? Good. -- Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~. /V\ [email protected] /( )\ http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
