Category: Protectionism
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Obama’s Trans-Pacific Free Trade Partnership Disaster / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
Will America ever learn?
No, I guess not.
After the failed promises of NAFTA, a job-destroying trade deficit that has burgeoned despite a long series of free-trade agreements, and ever-more-aggressive foreign mercantilism, we’re plowing ahead with even more of these agreements.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Unfair Chinese Business Practices Threaten Profits of U.S. Businesses / Companies / Protectionism
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
U.S. companies have become increasingly worried that unfair Chinese business practices are hurting their ability to compete and will start eating into the juicy profits they've been extracting from the Asian giant.
Problems with how China treats foreign businesses have been simmering for several years, but a recent incident with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has pulled those issues back into the spotlight.
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Sunday, October 23, 2011
Gov. Buddy Roemer Calls for Withdrawal From NAFTA, WTO / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
I have detailed in previous articles my search for a Republican presidential candidate who is good on trade issues. The candidates range from the pro-China Huntsman, to the corrupt and naïve Perry, to those who sound good but leave unclear where they really stand, like Cain, to those who leave doubt as to whether they would back up their nice words with deeds, like Romney.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Protectionism Cannot Bring Prosperity / Politics / Protectionism
By: Mike_Shedlock
It is not often I vehemently disagree with Michael Pettis at China Financial Markets regarding trade. This time I do. Interestingly, there are some points of his recent analysis that I strongly agree with.
Via Email, interspersed with my comments please consider the following point counterpoint discussion.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Mitt Romney's Plan to Replace Free Trade / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
As I've noted before, Mitt Romney has given some indications that he may be serious about doing something about America's trade mess. He's made tough statements about dealing with China which, if sincere, would not only put him beyond the other major Republican candidates on trade, but also far beyond what the Obama administration is doing.
Friday, October 07, 2011
United States versus China Round Two / Politics / Protectionism
By: Richard_Mills
The Chinese government, in an effort to maximize exports and minimize US imports, prints their Yuan to buy dollars. This prevents their currency from rising and the dollar from falling. Then it loans those same dollars back to America by buying US debt.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Why the Capital vs Labour Antithesis is Screwing Capitalism, Labour, and Free Trade / Politics / Protectionism
By: Submissions
David Chapman writes: The fundamental reason that "Free Trade" will end, and end badly, is that while movement of capital, goods and services is substantially free, and exchange rates are substantially floating, labour is imprisoned; creating massive imbalance.
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Friday, September 16, 2011
Not Made in America at the Root of U.S. Economic Crisis / Economics / Protectionism
By: Richard_Mills
Government attempts to inflate the money supply and stimulate growth through quantitative easing have failed, so far, because they gave the stimulus to banks, not directly to their citizens - stimulation will only work if the cash is spent:
- Giving the money to bankers is the equivalent to burying it - banks used the money to shore up their balance sheets and do not loan it out
- Consumers are already buried in debt and facing mass layoffs so taking on yet more debt by borrowing more money from the banks is not an option
Monday, August 29, 2011
U.S. Avoid Trade War? We're Already In One! / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
Whenever protectionists like myself demand that the U.S. government do something to stand up for America in global trade, we are shouted down with the stern admonition, "You'll start a trade war."
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
How China Plans to Leapfrog the American Economy / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
(And it’s Not What You Think) -
Many Americans are already concerned about China’s growing economic challenge to the United States. Indeed, the challenge itself is hardly news anymore. But a new book, Red Alert by Stephen Leeb, argues that Americans have radically misunderstood just what this challenge consists of.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Answering Objections to a Trade Tariff / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
It’s only fair to answer some of the objections to the idea of an import tariff that I and others, like possible presidential candidate Donald Trump, have recently proposed.One common objection is simply that our trading partners would just shrug it off by increasing subsidies to their exporters.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Why Donald Trump is Right on Trade / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
The usual suspects are racing to debunk Donald Trump’s foray into the most serious protectionism—a 25% tariff on China—proposed by a major presidential candidate since Patrick Buchanan ran in 1992.
They know this is big. Our long-delayed national trade debate has begun.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Trade Tariff Would, Too, Fix Our Trade Mess / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
I and my employer, the Coalition for a Prosperous America, are unabashed protectionists. I have written previously about how, for example, a flat tariff on all U.S. imports may well be the key to solving the ongoing trade crisis that is depleting our national wealth and gutting our industries.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Japan, the Forgotten Protectionist Threat / Economics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
Everyone's worried about China today on the trade front. And they should be.
But let's not forget that China is only the most brazen player of one-way free trade out there. We ran a $273 billion deficit with China in 2010, but we also ran an $80 billion deficit with the European Union and a $60 billion deficit with Japan.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
No Need for Villains on the Trade Issue / Economics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
Judging by, among other things, the comments posted on articles about America’s trade mess, a lot of people are getting very angry on the issue. Words like “traitor” are making their appearance. This is unfortunate, because if free trade is wrong, then it is coldly, factually wrong on its merits, and turning it into a drama of innocents and villains is unnecessary.
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Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Why Public Support for Free Trade Will Collapse Soon / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
For once, some good news: public support for free trade will almost certainly collapse over the next few years. On this issue, the public is way ahead of the political class in the quality of its thinking., and the average hardware store owner in Nebraska understands the real economics involved better than the average U.S. Senator.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Protectionism of the Future vs. Protectionism of the Past / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
Protectionism is frequently tarred as a backward-looking policy which merely preserves yesterday’s jobs at the expense of tomorrow’s. This is a snappy-sounding canard, but it has nothing to do with the contemporary critique of free trade. It does, however, have something to do with some of the cruder protectionist impulses that have sometimes surfaced in the past. As a result, it’s worth distinguishing between forward-looking protectionism (the good kind) and backward-looking protectionism (the bad kind.)
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Friday, February 04, 2011
The Greater Depression Smoot-Hawley Redux / Economics / Protectionism
By: James_Quinn
As the Greater Depression continues along a parallel pathway with the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress is about to commit the same blunder it made in 1930. The rocket scientists in the House of Representatives in September passed the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which aims to crack down on Chinese currency manipulation by targeting imports from China and other countries with currencies that are perceived to be undervalued.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, December 17, 2010
U.S. China Trade Dispute Resolution Progress, but Currency Roadblock Remains / Politics / Protectionism
By: Money_Morning
Jason Simpkins writes:
The United States and China this week wrapped up a two-day meeting on trade that was aimed at cooling rising tensions between the two nations. Still, despite the progress, currency valuations and trade tariffs will continue to be a fixture of both countries' foreign policies.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Free Trade Doesn't Work: Interview With Economist Ian Fletcher / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
Michael Hughes Interviews Ian Fletcher - Free trade doesn't work, the global economy is a myth and the U.S. has been duped during trade negotiations for the past 40 years according to Ian Fletcher, an adjunct fellow with the U.S. Business and Industry Council and author of Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace It and Why, who relayed these concepts to me in an exclusive interview.