Mr. Trump is apparently going to get his trade war, and I predict a colossal failure. But this is one war I’ll be glad for the U.S. to lose. Just as there is really no victor in war (in the sense that the lives that were lost are forever gone), so too will whatever trade […]
Archives
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Trump v China
09 Apr 2018
Mr. Trump likes to think of himself as a free trader, but in his mind, free trade isn’t free (or at least mutually beneficial) when the other side is continually cheating. I tend to be very skeptical of Mr. Trump’s trade policies, especially since his stated logic is grounded in fundamental fallacies, such as the […]
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Major Trade War Between the Two Kingdoms
23 Mar 2018
In case you missed the news: Middle-Earth Announces Heavy Tariffs On Narnian Imports
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Some Thoughts on Free Trade
12 Mar 2018
In many ways, President Trump is a policy tumbleweed. He doesn’t seem able to remain focused for very long on a single issue. However, this vacillation does not seem to be the case with his economic nationalism. He does seem able to focus on protectionism; whether he is attempting to restrict immigration or global trade, […]
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Mr. Trump targets American Consumers and American Workers on behalf of special interests
01 Mar 2018
I love American Steel. And American Aluminum. I am a casual purchaser of metal, but frequently enough that I have an account at the local Dayton office of ALRO Steel. I am a novice welder and car builder, which means I need raw materials to work with. American metals are far higher quality to […]
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A Brief History of Trade
26 Feb 2018
This weekend I was able to listen to a Cato Institute podcast featuring Douglas A. Irwin’s new book Clashing over Commerce. The book highlights the politics undergirding the history of international trade protectionism in the United States. I found Irwin’s discussion with interviewer Caleb Brown to be helpful and to shed a little light on […]
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All economics, all the time
06 Feb 2018
At least in this post…this is a lightening round of some of the issues in the news: Yes the markets are getting whipsawed, even with today’s big move back up. Not surprising; valuations using conventional metrics (such as the market price to earnings multiple) have been extremely high compared to history. One can make the […]
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Trump Trolls for Trouble, but Trade Tricked him!
29 Jan 2018
Ok, I promise I’ll stop quite the # of posts with “TR”, but this is a good counter to the bad news on trade we discussed last week. On Friday of last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission dealt a blow to Cronyism, Mr. Trump and that largest of corporate cronies, the Boeing Corporation. In […]
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Our Political Parties Vacillating Position on Free Trade / Populist Anti-Free Trade Is Nothing New
29 Jan 2018
Mary Ann and I are cleaning out our attic. Boxes and boxes of old children’s toys, various and sundry other stuff arranged in no particular order are being sorted and donated to Goodwill or moved to the ever expanding trash pile. This Saturday morning, we were reminiscing over a set of dishes neatly packed away […]
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Aahh the perils of a populist president. But at least I can try to think of more words that start off with TR.* So yesterday Mr. Trump declared war on most of America and a few foreigners to support a few jobs in the solar cell and washing machine industries. Let’s just review the standard […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach