Tom Palmer - Free Trade, Protectionism, GM, and Peter Schiff Part 2/3

[MrBWB]

I am a big fan of both Schiff and Palmer.. this is a minor thing they disagree on. I bet if they talked about it today, some years after their disagreement, they would both agree as they have likely each purged themselves of their ignorances often enough to both know the facts.

[Rensune]

Among those lucky enough to have a job...

Service sector 75% 'Nuff Said.

[ulysseinvest]

Palmer's wrong (imho) but says stuff that's right - of course people in the US produce things. Sure, ideas, PCs, Googles, YouTubes, are bringing back revenues, domestic, and international - but what only counts is the aggregate number, and the US has (today) a 50 billion average monthly trade deficit (peaked at 70 or somewhere a year ago) with "the rest of the world", and all of it is going into "consumption" - so that's not what one would call "productive". Save for next "PS is right" video.

[distressed7]

We're toast. Is that an exaggeration?

[HeWhoPawns]

This guy is very foolish to tangle with Schiff.

[MooseOfReason]

So Tom Palmer says we export blueprints?

Peter's still right that we don't make things. Designing is different from manufacturing.

[CaGgP]

It´s different but it still is part of the manufacturing process. What you have to look is for the amount of added value that is created, which in fact represents creation of wealth.

Like I said.. Schiff is still right when he says that the US needs to consume less and produce and save more. Persisten trade deficits and increased debt (especially consumer debt) is an unsustainable path

[lanchende]

Designing is being moved offshore also. More R&D and patents being issued overseas than US now

[Aliothemage]

"Peter's still right that we don't make things. Designing is different from manufacturing."

Uhhh... You MAKE designs. They are very valuable the gentleman was right about that. Manufacturing really doesn't matter.

Your argument SHOULD have been that despite our large amounts of exports we still import much more then we export. He is right that the US is very productive, the most productive nation on earth actually, but that doesn't make it feasible to buy even more then we produce.

[DrPhucker]

I've been in the Schiff line of thought for well over a year but never considered the fact that our engineering resources are indeed an export industry. Schiff may be exaggerating but I think most of us are hard-pressed to find considerable items in our respective homes actually made in America. And that in itself disturbs me.

[melizcrazy]

I think that Schiff meant that our production and exports are not enough to pay for our consumption, not that we don't produce anything. He sometimes exaggerates but his point stands. We do not create enough wealth to pay for our consumption. Our consumption is paid for by borrowed money and printed money. If we want to consume, we must first produce and that is Schiff's main point.

[CaGgP]

Agreed. Schiff gets carried away and sometimes says some dumb things. But he´s certainly right when he says US is living beyond its means. You jjust have to look at the debt levels and at the huge trade deficits, wich means you´re borowing from the future and from foreigners

[harryogre]

I think Peter Schiff gets a bit carried away sometimes and doesn't think through his word choices.

(maybe an inherited trait)

But overall I like Schiff.

This series with Tom Palmer is really good too. He's a smart guy.

[kaboo0m]

certainly we export more... but most of the exports, specifically the services, from the USA cannot be consumed on a grand scale. Thats the issue i think what peter schiff meant. We do not produce anything worth consuming, thus the profits from our export are minimal in comparison to the export and consumption ratio with a country like China.