Yeah... I have considered that. Prices would go up. But the benefit of jobs returning to the US, because US manufacturing would be competitive again, and the return of prosperity as the debt is reduced, would be worth it. Geez... I hope there is never a military conflict with China. That is not inevitable. You don't need to replace a cold war opponent even though armament manufacturers will try to create that perception in order to create a demand for their products. Remember your military expeditures already something like 80 times that of China.
Only if you believe China reports its military expenditures in a honest manner. Its also not just labor prices that keep the US uncompetitive. Energy costs,environmental regulations, etc. If companys selling Chinese made manufactured goods in the US pulled out, they would simply move to Mexico where they would enjoy NAFTA protection.
Good points. Perhaps our governments would be good enough one day to consider labour and environmental standards before establishing trade agreements. But then, that would involve acting in our best interests instead of the interests of the people who put them in power.
Brewster, two decades ago we had a third party candidate called Ross Perot who ran for President. Much of his campaign was based on the idiocy of free trade. What did the two major party candidates, Bill Clinton and George Bush I do? They laughed at him. Both Bush and Clinton talked about how free trade was going to raise the standard of living in the rest of the world. They never addressed the issue of "at what cost to America?" I do think a war with China is almost inevitable. The Chinese are going to have a huge need for natural resources that they don't possess. As all those Chinese cars will need fuel and parts the Chinese will have to look for those natural resources wherever they can be found. If it means they have to take them, then they will. Once the Chinese get the taste of North American style consumption they will never go back to subsistence living. At that point our children better know how to speak Chinese because we no longer have enough manufacturing to fight any major war, but the Chinese do.
