Straight Talk on Protectionism

Governments around the world simultaneously rail against protectionism while also putting up barriers to trade which work against their own public statements. All governments are up in arms when a current or potential trade partner begins instituting tariffs or import duties to foster domestic growth. At the same time they try to get away with as much of the same as they can without incurring similar wrath.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Protectionism
• Free trade
• fair trade
• US economy
• Economy In Crisis
• WTO
• VAT
• NAFTA
• Vaule added tax

[mannecyberguy]

Please tell me how protectionism is supposed to be good; especially in this era of American corporations outsourcing so many American jobs abroad in order to exploit cheap labour, and increase short-term profits.

[AroundSun]

Let me get this straight. The government charges its citizens higher taxes in order to buy American goods. They then buy American goods increasing Jobs in the United States. Sounds like a broken window falacy to me. I could go around breaking windows in the stores in town, and that would create jobs. But that is lost capital to the businesses I vandalized. You need to get it through your head America that the government doesn't have any money of its own, it only has what it takes from us

[AroundSun]

@eparkbuckeye There were many more factors. It is naive to believe that these tariffs overall helped the American consumers and workers. We do not have free trade right now. For the 5 million jobs we lost to NAFTA, we gained 19 million new ones. That is only with manipulated regulated trade. Imagine if we had real free trade?

[eparkbuckeye]

Protectionism was the policy that built our industrial economy; a simple glance through history will prove this. Through the tariff system, our industry became the largest and most efficient in the world, with the highest paid labor. Every industrialized nation came about through tariffs (Georgian England, Bismarck's Germany, the US, post war Japan, and modern China.)

[wvaccountant]

I will agree with you, however, that if we want to stimulate the economy, purchasing foreign goods likely has less of an effect than purchasing domestic ones.

[wvaccountant]

"There is absolutely no reason that any government should ever buy anything that's foreign made if that thing could be made domestically."

Evidently, you've never heard of comparative or absolute advantage. Why not take an economics class before posting? It doesn't make sense for the government to spend more on an American product when it can purchase a foreign product for less. We aren't efficient at making everything; we need to focus on what we're good at and import the rest.

[istraight1]

@mnasby tell that to the american who does not have a job because it went to china.

[istraight1]

@SavageJim01 please tell to the the politicians.

[mnasby]

Protectionism is bad because it protects inefficient businesses that can't compete in the world market.

Read "The Choice" by Russell Roberts it explains that even though some jobs are lost, the country as a whole benefits.

[SavageJim01]

Free trade from 1 country to another country that is also free trade is good yes.

But Good luck finding another country that is free trade like America. China is protectionist, not free trade. China subsidizes its businesses too much, they devalue their money on purpose. That is PROTECTIONIST.