A shocking statistic

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Bigerik

Yup, worked great for Japan. Cept their market is anything but free. Read an article recently of how Samsung, the worlds largest TV manufacturer, had to pull out of the Japanese market because of non-tarriff boundaries.

The Japanese car market has been pretty well closed to imports also. Peugeot won the import car of the year award in Japan a couple of years ago, and sold just over 2000 cars. In a 3 million a year car market.

The Japanese have always supported their own domestic economy. Only in the US is this considered a socialist/union activity.

Exactly, when Florence was teaching in Japan, if you bought a foreign car for say $10,000 then the tarriff was $10,000. Not only that, their biggest manuafcturers would collaborate and assign a section of the world market to one of that groups members. They would then subsidize that manufacturer until it had run the competition out of business. A Young Japanese trade delegate admitted as much to me over a beer in the San Francisco airport.

Among her students (all well placed up and coming coporate management) was thr grandson of a former premier Ikedo. he flat out stated "We may have lost the shooting war, but we will bury you in the economic war."

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

....
because we have a black man in the White House.
...

That's my take. The very same black man who's currently looking to expand more free trade agreements.

Pete

[Brett A]

Trickle-down will work. We just need to give it more time.

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Brett A

Trickle-down will work. We just need to give it more time.

Ok for you to say that, myself I'm a wee bit tard of being pi**ed on.

[Brett A]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Ok for you to say that, myself I'm a wee bit tard of being pi**ed on.

I hope you know I was joking. But you make a good point. Something's been trickling down, but it ain't prosperity.

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Brett A

I hope you know I was joking. But you make a good point. Something's been trickling down, but it ain't prosperity.

Oh I knew it was a joke, and right - what is trickling down sure does not smell like prosperity.

[Oerets]

Trickle down does work well for the one trickling. Just not for the masses receiving.




Barney

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

That's my take. The very same black man who's currently looking to expand more free trade agreements.

Pete

Free trade isn't even that big of a problem if it actually is free. The trading partners who are killing us, like China and Japan, are hardly free markets for us. They dump goods into our market, and then do things like screw with their exchange rates to keep their markets closed to us.

[piece-itpete]

Believe me I'm no fan of whole country dumping - er I mean artifically depressed exchange rates. I suggest taking it up with the current State department.

There's a post WW2 tie in in a big way on this. Even come 69 the rest of the world was still playing catch up.

Then of course our bipartisan foriegn policy, attemping to bring China into the fold of civilized nations - basically trying to prevent a war with them by integrating them into our economic system.

Pete

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by JCricket

DO you really believe all that bunk you just spewed? Really?
Lets see, goods can be made cheaper and take jobs out of the US. Therefore, the skilled have less jobs. They will take what they can get(they have to). This extra skilled laborer will displace the less skilled(read as poor) laborer. Now the poor, who were wroking are even poorer. And as far as national governments are concerned, if it weren't for them the rich businesses would have complete and total control of all wealth. The common man would have nothing. Read about carnigie and rockefeller and uncontrolled/unregulated capitalism. You might be suprised what you learn.

Yeah, I am a horses ass this morning. But your post is just way beyond rediculous.

There is no good argument against the manufacture of goods at the greatest efficiency. Using a nation's labor in an inefficient manner is simply a waste of resources, thus manufacture ought not be artificially propped up by government. Sadly, it actually is and especially wrt to China and formerly Japan.

Inexpensive products mean they are manufactured more efficiently than the same, equivalent, product at a higher price. There is an economic sink where products are not made efficiently. This is harmful to the economy. Now, clearly some groups will be bettered by the inefficienct, but overall there will, by necessity, be harm to the whole of the system. The problem is when national governments gets involved.

Also, consider how the poor here in America could stretch their SS or welfare checks without the inexpensive, read efficiently produced, products from China.

BTW, I hate Chinese products but do realize that they help the poor stretch their income. The question ought be why the US can't compete with the Chinese on an ever increasing number of products? We once were able to compete, but now we can't. Surely there must be a reason aside from blaming corpororations, republicans, democrats, or some other boogey man. The corporations will go to where efficiencies are highest, thus they don't seem to be the driver of our industrial problems.