Both parties tend to ignore facts about the benefits of free trade because both parties oppose free trade.
tariffs
TGIF: Tariffying Trade-Warmonger Trump
"The word tariff, properly used, is a beautiful word. One of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard. It’s music to my ears." —Donald Trump The once and possibly future president threatens to wage economic warfare against countries and companies everywhere if they...
Restricting Production
"At the bottom of the interventionist argument there is always the idea that the government or the state is an entity outside and above the social process of production, that it owns something which is not derived from taxing its subjects, and that it can spend this...
Tariffs Violate Freedom
Debate goes on over who suffers from U.S. tariffs. Biden and Trump, for example, think U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods hurt China, not Americans. This is nonsense. Even if they hurt Chinese producers (who can sell their goods elsewhere), the tariffs still hurt...
The China Lobby Now (Where is it?)
*Author’s note: while the term “China Lobby” has historically been associated with the coalition of interest groups, primarily in the business community, that grew up around support for the Republic of China in the 1920s and 1930s and which came to be closely allied...
TGIF: Tariffs Tax Consumers
We seem to forget that a tariff is a tax. It is formally levied on importers, not on foreigners or things, but since it can usually be passed along, it ends up as an indirect tax on consumers. The point of tariffs is to protect certain domestic businesses and their...
WaPo: Trump Plans Massive Tariffs If Re-Elected
Former President Doanld Trump privately met with his top economic advisors last week and discussed plans for major tariff increases, three people familiar with the meeting told the Washington Post. One of the ideas which was floated involves a “universal baseline...
TGIF: On Privilege
One of the most abused words in English is privilege. Observe how indiscriminately this word is spoken and written. For example, in some quarters, all straight white men -- without exception -- are said to be privileged, which seems absurd. Practically all we hear...
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Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine
Over and over, U.S. government officials and their mainstream media allies called Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine an “unprovoked attack.” The slogan became so overused that people began to ask the obvious question: Why do they protest so much? In Provoked: How...
