Fred Ziffel wrote:

No, you fail to consider that we are being subjugated by a fraudulent,
debt-based fiat money system that requires periodic recessions to
cause enough bankruptcy to clear the excessive debt created.

Which resets the economy. Otherwise inflation would grow virtually
unchecked.

Think about this: Why do people deserve raises every year for doing the
same exact job? If there were not a cost of living increase (inflation),
the only reason a person should get a raise is due to promotion. Yet,
workers seem to feel that they are entitled to a raise every year (above
the current COL index). What do you thing this practice does to the
bottom line, and the rate of inflation?

What can be more damaging than to sacrifice a nations productive
capacity, and the ownership of the entire nation, to the false gods
of free trade.

Forcing socialist governmental controls on it.


Nothing socialist about tariffs. They were being used long before
socialism was ever created.

Socialism saw it's first roots in, of all places, Plymouth Rock. But be
that as it may, if you do not allow trade to equalize the market, you
will continue to have inequality in it. It sounds bad for us, who have
lived in an economic situation of rampant inflation, which has pushed up
both our wages and costs. But much of the rest of the world has not kept
pace with us in this area, and that's why we have the outsourcing
problem that we have today. The only true way to solve this problem is
to equalize the standard of living throughout the rest of the world.
Then there would be no incentive to outsource.


Buffet has a known left leaning ideology.


So, since Pat Buchanan is in favor of some kind of tariff, does that
make him a leftist? Perhaps anyone who disagrees with "Dave" is
automatically a leftist.

Buffet has been labeled as left leaning. Calling me names won't change
that.

So, it seems that the second wealthiest man in the world believes that
it is time for the US to implement TARIFFS to solve the trade deficit
problem.

So what? The first richest man in the world has convinced the majority
of people that the blue screen of death is "normal".


Tariffs are fine if you can convince your trade partners to agree to
them. Have you been monitoring the steel tariff situation? We can impose
anything we want. But other countries can counter as well.


We don't have to convince our trading partners of anything. We can
impose whatever tariffs we want. Do the math Dave. The trade defecit
exceeds 50% of our total exports. I think maybe we'd be better off
not even trading! We're loosing money and depleating our assets!

So what are you going to do, when in response to our protectionist
tariffs, our trading partners impose tariffs and sanctions of their own?
We can't force the rest of the world to do business with us, unless we
have something the rest of the world wants more than the goods they
offer us. In case you haven't been paying attention, the U.S. doesn't
make much here anymore.

We are no longer in the position of holding the rest of the world
economically hostage to our demands.


We have history to guide us. The economy has ebbed and flowed many times
over the years. This is no exception. The great depression followed a
period of robust growth. This is again no different. What IS different
is that, like it or not, we are now a global economy. We can either
futilely fight this trend, or we can adjust to it, and work it to our
advantage. But trying to bully the rest of the world, isn't going to
help us in the long run.

Dave


Thats right Dave, we do have history to guide us. America became a
wealthy, modern industrial nation protected behind a high wall of
tariffs.

Yes, we needed tariffs so that our fledgling industries could compete
with established producers in Europe. Once we could become competative,
the tariffs were no longer needed.


We became wealthy BECAUSE of the tariffs, not in spite of
them.

Yes, and some could argue that our current disparity in living standard
and inflation with WRT the rest of the world is at least partially the
result of those actions.


Following the religion you espouse has resulted in a declining
standard of living for millions of Americans, is transfering our high
tech jewels to the Japanese and other foreigners, and is making us as
a nation poorer.

It's a wake up call. We have been used to living in a living standard
bubble. We certainly adjusted to it fine enough. But compared to much of
the rest of the world, we are hopelessly bloated.


Its always been a global economy Dave. Its just
that before we always protected our interests.

No, it's not the same thing. Yes, we traded with other "global"
partners, but our corporations were 100% U.S. owned and operated. Today,
the fact that the corporate headquarters of a particular company may sit
in the U.S., much of the infrastructure is in other countries, and many
of the employees are foreigners as well. Much of the profit for those
companies are spread out over the world. If the U.S. starts adopting
policies such as tariffs, it may only give greater incentive to further
divorce companies from our soil. It doesn't cost much to relocate to a
place like Bermuda (Tyco) or the Bhamas, and the company would be free
to trade with other countries, wihout the restrictions of the U.S.
government.



Now, because of the
head-up-the-ass "free trade" ideas that you are promoting, we are
depleating our wealth and destroying our capacity to maintain a middle
class and a high standard of living for the majority of Americans.


Head up the ass? Hardly. I just see the writing on the wall. We can
either fight the trends, and face certain failure, or we can adjust and
adapt to them, and find ways to take advantage of our assets. You are
not going to turn the clock back, and the rest of the world doesn't want
that either.


But apparently thats all OK with you, because you belong to the "I've
Got Mine Club." Dave's got his, **** everybody else.

Your emotions are getting the best of you. Try being a little more
objective.

We are part of a world market, like it or not. We are not in the
position to call all the shots anymore. We can either play by a set of
rules that everyone can accept, or we can try to go it alone. Which
seems to be the better choice in the long run?

Dave