At 20:11 02/02/2009, [email protected] wrote: >John G. wrote: > > > Thanks for your considered response John. > > > > (At least I don't _have_ to buy any books ... yet.) > > > >I didn't have time for footnotes, sorry! That's just a little joke, John.
I think you misunderstood: I meant you hadn't recommended my reading any books. >And John G. further wrote: > > > You'll note that I don't share several of your deep-seated > assumptions, e.g.: > > > > - the US experience/system can be extrapolated abroad > > > >I do not understand what this means. It means that your arguments are all predicated on your perception of the US experience/system (go through them). In Europe and Asia, very different systems are at play: The recent economic downturn notwithstanding, the entire region is thriving on increased international trade, and a more fluid job market (except bloody Denmark!). "OECD economic analyses generally support increased international trade; their work shows that a 10 percentage point increase in trade openness results in a 4 percent increase in per capita income for the OECD area." https://www.truthabouttrade.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1031 This is in stark contrast to the US attitude to its neighbours, workers and corporations. >Do you mean the experience of massive export of jobs due to the >dominance of finance capital over industrial capital? Where? >If so, this is something your native land experienced long ago, so >you must be aware of the disease. Britain has thrived on service jobs. >Do you mean overconsumption? That does appear to be a perquisite of >late imperial America that other countries do not enjoy, but its >days are surely over now. Adjustment is far from over. > Do you mean the import of 15-20 illegal aliens? No, other > countries have not experienced that, not because they do not have > problems with illegal immigration, but rather because they had the > common sense to actually enforce their laws regarding it. And (having a welfare state) to avoid a 2-tier society. >In any case, I have never said that the US experience/system can or >should be extrapolated abroad. Must be just your arguments then. >Trade is collapsing. Sorry? Check out the big picture: "For the 2000-2007 period, exports on average increased by 2.7 percentage points faster than real gross domestic product." http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2008_e/its08_toc_e.htm >Sounds to me like the corporate-government posture on free trade, >and much else, is supine. When they start listening to you we'll take more notice. 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. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
