At this point what else can be said except for “ALL ABOARD” Lets hope we’re not taking a freight train down a dirt road.
Photo: Huffingtonpost.ca
The new administration will be calling “all aboard” come Jan 20th. Prior to that date I’d like to address a few points worth considering. Assuming the inauguration takes place without any incident on Jan 20th the Trump train will officially take over the reins of power, navigating the nation into new directions. Hopefully their selected path doesn’t wind up leading off the edge of a steep cliff. Taking into account some recent brainstorming, I’m beginning to feel it might already be getting dangerously close to the edge. I too have hopes, but reality is a heavy block that’s cemented firmly at the base of my foundation of thought. Debt comes at a high for us all.
A couple of members worth mentioning in Trump’s cabinet are Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro. Both Ross and Navarro seem to express interest in a progressive desertion from free trade and replacing it with what many term as Fair trade. Ross an accomplished billionaire investor and Ph.D. economist Navarro both pitch a return to fair trade guidelines. To begin with what is fair trade? Tough question to answer because it’s subjective. Almost everyone’s going to have a different answer.
In today’s world I find the term fair trade to be outdated. Fair trade has been replaced with swindle the other side for all their worth. We no longer live in a world where both buyer and seller triumph. Call it dog eat dog, demoralized, inhuman whatever term you care to use, still it is what it is. In today’s environment fair trade has about an equal chance of succeeding as protectionism does.
In fact when you come to think of it, much of the entire history of the western nation has been based upon an endless compilation of lies, corruption and deceit. Much of where America currently finds itself today has been built by many things, but Fair Trade is not one of them, at least not for the past several decades.
USA vs CHINA – BBC Documentary 2016
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If swindling nations out of their natural resources, installing puppet governments and above all if killing millions of innocent civilians comes anywhere near the word fair, you’ve got a misunderstanding of the definition of what fair is. America was never a great nation as much as it was a profitable nation. Just do the research, think with your head not your heart and lastly I’m not being mistaken when I say “was a great nation”. Those great days have fallen into the category of times gone by. Those files are covered in dust tucked away somewhere in the back of an old filing cabinet. They’re history!
Moving forward catching up with the present interval. The greater percentage of the world, currently pays employees little more than 200 dollars per month. In several Nations employees holding college degrees earn even less than that. Accountants, lawyers even doctors earn a mere fraction compared to those residing in western nations. Sure it seems Fair to those residing in the west. But here’s a thought provoking question. Is it fair to pay someone ten, twenty fifty times more just because of where they were born? If the answer to that question is yes then I’m afraid you’re in for a big revelation.
For quite some time now manufactures have been packing up and relocating their facilities to other countries. Other countries who offer lower costs of operations. I may be wrong but I’m confident many of my readers from the west already think I’m referring to America’s loss of manufacturing over the past few decades but I’m not. The benefits for relocating come in many shapes and sizes. Lower wages and less taxation are the two largely spoken about, but another major reason that’s gained heaps of exposure lately is less Government intervention.
Ron Paul: The economy is collapsing Financial Martial Law is coming!
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An example of what I’m referring to could be a factory located… well almost anywhere, but for the example let’s say located in China or Europe. When wages become too expensive to compete with similar factories producing the same widgets for example in Cambodia or Vietnam where wages are about half of what they are in China (I won’t even compare to Europe) the owner is very likely going to “Shift Alt Del’ China or Europe and head towards where he can be competitive.
Of course there’s more to it than that. Every recipe has several ingredients. In the above example think of things like currency, taxation, tariffs, logistics and Government intervention as some of the other key components, some of the other key ingredients. Bottom line, if Free trade was the true goal we’d already have it long ago. It’s not impossible. Remove all duties and tariffs. Only then will you have “free trade” only then is when we all benefit. That would really be free trade!
But that’s not what Trump wants. Trump wants protectionism. Appointed cabinet members Ross and Navarro aren’t looking for free trade. They’re both walking down the path that leads to “Fair Trade” not Free trade. Fair trade is just another way of saying crony capitalism. As I often do let’s juggle this around a bit. If thinking in terms of the previous example then the question becomes. How is it fair denying employment to a person in India only to pay someone in Canada 10 or more times as much for doing the same job?
Short answer it’s not. Over the past few decades there’s been a paradigm shift. Almost an about face as what was unfair is now fair and the same holds true for its counterpart. If you’ve been reading my posts for any length of time I repeatedly mention that Technology changes everything! Technology is what caused it to no longer be fair.
The mess we currently find ourselves in was not created by Donald Trump nor will he be solving it. Nonetheless if Trump adheres to the information being brought forth by either Ross or Navarro, it will surely lead to that cliff I mentioned earlier in the post. Both individuals are providing little more than bad information. Relinquishing free trade only to be replacing it with more crony capitalism is a poor decision in today’s changing world.
The days of the west being able to reward or punish at will is fast setting sail. Actually that ship left its birth a long time ago. Various course corrections and a changing tide caused all of us to land of a foreign shore. Perhaps it’s still too difficult for the imprudent to understand. Over time China has become America’s landlord. America’s trade deficit with China currently runs slightly over one Billion USD per day! As of January 2017 the trade deficit is staggering Ten Trillion Dollars!!!
Just in case there’s still any vagueness remaining about what’s been powering this deficit, this voyage, this ship… what’s been its source of fuel? It was technology because (once again all together now) Technology changes everything! Another tidbit of what might be good advice really has nothing directly to do with technology, however indirectly it has everything to do with it. Either way it’s just good common sense and that is. It’s never a good idea to piss off your Landlord! Until next time this is Barry in DR.
