Dear All,
We don't have free trade or a free market. We have cartels that use the political process to raise prices to consumers and CREATE monopolies. This is called Mercantilism and it's been around forever. To deal with the problems Celine is concerned about, we need to actually have free trade, something we have never known in our lifetimes.
Regarding autos and LA, it was specifically the Federal government's highway building subsidy to the auto industry that destroyed the LA rail system. If the auto companies had to actually build the roads or if the people who drove cars had to actually pay to have the roads built, we would see something entirely different.
Regarding the exporting of jobs, that is the direct result of our wage laws. My wife and I have a Philippine nanny. We pay her $800 per month plus room and board for 6 days a week of round the clock work. That is 3 times the Philippine minimum wage, 4 times the Brazilian minimum. It's the best job she's ever had and she's the richest person in her family's history. She owns her own home and her mother and sisters live in it and pay her rent.
If I had to comply with US labor law, I'd have to earn $50,000 in pre-tax income to pay her. So what's the reality? Would I just pay? No, can't afford it. So she loses her job and my wife and I don't get the help we need. It's complete lose-lose. That is why government's interference always helps the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor. It is never a good idea to get government involved in anything that needs a solution. If American workers think they can legislate and protect themselves into profit, they are surely wrong. The American labor establishment is tired, old, and lazy compared to many places in the world. Our jobs will continue to exit as long as people think they can use government to protect them. The result of this will only be to accelerate our demise.
Read this article on Mercantilism by Lew Rockwell. Let me know if you want more of this kind of stuff. I've got tons of them.
Mike
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