What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Why do Trump Supporters want Big Government to fix the Chinese trade imbalance? (1 Viewer)

Captain Cranks

Captain Cranks

Footballguy
Let's put aside the fact that the trade deficit with China isn't a bad thing.  Let's also concede that China is playing with a different set of rules and that something must be done to stop IP theft.  Why is the small government, supposed free market capitalist Trumplican party following Trump's lead that the government must disturb the free market through tariffs and subsequent welfare handouts to US industries affected?  Isn't the true free market solution for the US consumer to stop buying Chinese products?  Isn't that also the same solution to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US?  I'll hang up and listen.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Captain Cranks said:
Let's put aside the fact that the trade deficit with China isn't a bad thing. 
Click to expand...
This is what I came in here to post.  I object to the word "fix" in the thread title because it implies that there's something wrong with having a trade deficit with some particular country.

If there is one idea that has been absolutely, thoroughly discredited by economic thought over the past few centuries, it is mercantilism.  And yet your average person on the street is a mercantilist.  

 
Captain Cranks said:
Isn't the true free market solution for the US consumer to stop buying Chinese products?  Isn't that also the same solution to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US?
Click to expand...
No. Markets tend to promote efficiency. The U.S. doesn't seem like a very good place to do a lot of manufacturing. The opportunity costs are higher here than elsewhere because labor is worth more here. We have better uses for our human capital than having people stand in the same place doing simple, repetitive tasks in a factory all day.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is bannons thing.....donald nor his supporters get what they are doing or why....i dont recall him running heavily on trade tariffs either

 
bicycle_seat_sniffer said:
This is bannons thing.....donald nor his supporters get what they are doing or why....i dont recall him running heavily on trade tariffs either
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure this isn't 100% true. I don't doubt Bannon had a role in this, but Trump has been pro-tariffs for years. I think its been shown on this forum multiple times.

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
No. Markets tend to promote efficiency. The U.S. doesn't seem like a very good place to do a lot of manufacturing. The opportunity costs are higher here than elsewhere because labor is worth more here. We have better uses for our human capital than having people stand in the same place doing simple, repetitive tasks in a factory all day.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, but Trumplicans are trying to find the intersection between capitalism and nationalism.  The fact that labor is cheaper elsewhere equates to a loss of jobs here in the US; the other side of the equation, cheaper goods and spurring innovation elsewhere, is ignored.  I'm willing to play on their field for the purpose of this thread:  We're for unfettered capitalism but also for nationalism.  Assuming I agree with that way of thinking (which I don't), isn't the capitalist/nationalist solution for the consumer to take a stand against the Chinese rather than depend on Trump to negotiate a new trade deal drowned in taxes and corporate welfare?  

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
No. Markets tend to promote efficiency. The U.S. doesn't seem like a very good place to do a lot of manufacturing. The opportunity costs are higher here than elsewhere because labor is worth more here. We have better uses for our human capital than having people stand in the same place doing simple, repetitive tasks in a factory all day.
Click to expand...
Yeah! They should be sitting in front of computers rehashing the same exact arguments every day generating more advertising revenue!

 
There are so many conflated issues on this topic.  I think the one genuine "good fight" here is the situation where IP is actively stolen from the company where a patent is in place to prevent it.  The rest is "free market" stuff and if you are in favor of "free market" you should have no problem with the Chinese practices.  The problem is, attempting to fight the "good fight" the way he is isn't going to fix anything.  He's caught up in the wash and doesn't recognize (or isn't bright enough to understand) what he's doing isn't going to fix that problem.

 
The answer to your topic is because they aren’t really Republicans. Republicans used to be fiscal conservatives and supported free trade. Oddly enough it is the new Republicans that are the Rinos

 
Nothing the nationalists like more than government intervention to correct perceived wrongs. It's why thwy want a strongman leader.

So the premise of this thread is wrong in this respect

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
No. Markets tend to promote efficiency. The U.S. doesn't seem like a very good place to do a lot of manufacturing. The opportunity costs are higher here than elsewhere because labor is worth more here. We have better uses for our human capital than having people stand in the same place doing simple, repetitive tasks in a factory all day.
Click to expand...
Yes, we can cook fast food and with pay twice as much for pharma and healthcare with our efficient markets while not seeing a wage increase for the  middle class for over 30 years, whadda country.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GordonGekko
Do Democrats Intentionally Ignore How Much Fossil Fuel It Takes To Power Electric Cars? (6/7/22 1:10 PST)
Replies
13
Views
709
GordonGekko
GordonGekko
GordonGekko
Biden Administration Considering Sending Gas Rebate Cards To Millions Of Americans (6/18/22 19:28 PST)
Replies
43
Views
1K
AAABatteries
AAABatteries
GordonGekko
OP/ED: Explaining Why Donald Trump Going To Prison Would Be Good For America (7/12/22 21:26 PST)
Replies
3
Views
347
GordonGekko
GordonGekko

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top