At 00:21 01/02/2009, [email protected] wrote: >Alan responded: > > > I don't think that trade deals are ridiculous at all. [snip]] > > I think we need more global trade and not less. Do we want to bring back to > > the US those low-wage manual labor jobs that have been exported? > >Then we had Reagan, who taught us deficits do not matter, and the >hemorrhaging of US manufacturing jobs began > >And manufacturing (which generally led the US economy out of past >recessions) has shrunk by half to only about 10% of the US economy, >while finance has more than doubled to over 20% in the last 25 years >(the figures are from Phillips' "Bad Money").
>And now you want more free trade as the solution? Is this a joke? It seems to me that opposition to free trade has been a disservice to US manufacturers: such protection (ism) is the reason why so many industries -- emblematically automobiles -- are hopelessly outdated and unable to compete. The same opposition held Indian manufacturing back for decades. And, even in the current economic crisis, intervention in favour of British manufacturing is supported by very few, Produce something the world wants -- and that addresses such issues as climate change -- and the deficit might magically evaporate. john g --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Persons posting messages to not_honyaku assume all responsibility for their messages. The list owner does not review messages prior to posting, and accepts no responsibility for the content of messages posted. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
