Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Free Trade

For a clear demonstration of why CNN news anchor Lou Dobbs cannot be taken seriously on issues of trade and globalization, this is an exercpt from his interview in Mother Jones:

"This administration -- and frankly, it's both parties, Democrats and Republicans as well as the administration -- seems indifferent to the impact of a trade deficit that now amounts to $4 trillion in external debt. We have to borrow nearly $3 billion a day to support it. The dollar has plummeted. And yet everyone keeps saying, "Free trade is good for you." I cannot find anyone for whom free trade is good."

Well, what about Dobbs' employer CNN, which broadcasts globally?

Thanks to
Cafe Hayek for the tip.

I think a more accurate statement would be: "I cannot find anyone who has not benefited in some way from free trade." Think about that as you read this on a computer monitor that might have come from Taiwan, sitting at a keyboard that might have been produced in Malaysia, on a computer using an Intel processor that might have been produced in China, that operates on various software programs that might have been written in Ireland, India and Indonesia, while you drink coffee from Colombia or Brazil, or tea grown in India or Africa, and eat bananas from Costa Rica or grapes from Chile, while you book your airline tickets for trip to vacation in Europe on the Dutch airline KLM, sitting in your house that might have been built with lumber from Canada, that might be financed with mortage funds from a Dutch investor, wearing clothing that might have been made in Thailand or the North Mariana Islands, before driving to work in your Mexican-built VW, fueled by gasoline from Venezuela, etc., etc., etc.

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1 Comments:

At 12/19/2006 7:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Seems to me, any time you purchase a product produced overseas, someone within the US, other than yourself, benefits...the car dealership, Walmart, etc. There is always a middleman who is also supported by the transaction. Sure, it would be nice if everything could be built most economically in the US, but the reality is that all countries must specialize in what their resources best suit them for.

 

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