Economic Nationalism - the heart of the insurgency (1 Viewer)

[Higgs]

Pat Caddell nails it here.  The jig is up on "free" trade.  http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/11/pat-caddell-the-american-people-have-figured-out-theyve-been-screwed-by-free-trade/

Many of those pundits assumed Trump’s appeal would fizzle, comparing it to themes from earlier failed campaigns, as far back as Pat Buchanan’s run in 1992. If Caddell’s analysis is correct, what these other analysts missed was that many streams of discontent flowed into the river of “economic nationalism,” creating a unified focus for a huge number of Republican voters – and an impressive number of Democrats – who feel the incestuous political and Big Business elite no longer serve their interests. Indeed, a good deal of Washington culture is actively hostile toward them.  

These voters feel like internationalist orthodoxy was given a chance to succeed… and they are profoundly disappointed in the results. They haven’t just lost confidence in the elite. They don’t even think they can command its respect, or even get its attention. In Donald Trump, they see a champion who will not easily be ignored.

 

[eoMMan]

These politics are serious business to you guys, huh?

 

[timschochet]

Yeah it won't be easy to beat these forces down. But for the sake of our future economic growth, we will. 

 

[Higgs]

I find it pretty interesting that this is really the central issue that has given energy to both the Trump and Sanders movements.  Something has been in the air for a while now, and it was difficult to put a finger on exactly what it was.  It's economic nationalism, and it's been brewing for a quite a while beneath the surface.  And despite efforts from people like Tim and others, this isn't simply blind xenophobia.  It is a well balanced assessment from people on both sides of the aisle who have seen enough the past 20 years to conclude that this "free trade" nonsense has been, on the whole, an overall negative for America.  Sure it yields to an overall lowering of prices for some of the consumer goods we purchase but the downside is the loss of American jobs.

Would love to see some data supporting both positions.  I'm not an economist by any means, but I always value jobs more than I do anything else.  People need to work.  It's the most important thing in an economy in my mind.  I'd rather have Americans working than saving a few bucks on a piece of #### product manufactured in China.

 

[rockaction]

Apparel companies have voluntarily seized on this sentiment and used it as a marketing tool, notably American Apparel, who have problems of their own in the CEO dept. 

That said, people are so strapped that saving a few bucks on a toaster on Black Friday means something to them. Free trade lowers the price of goods and seeks efficiency in the global market. Not much more can be said. Instead of talking about jobs, we should be talking about the effects of a wage floor (minimum wage) and corporate and personal tax rates on a company's decision about whether to produce goods here or in another country.