Not much analysis needed here: HT to Greg Mankiw. Mr. Reagan had his own flaws, even on trade. Yet his convictions were always in the right direction, as this piece clearly articulates. All we know for sure is that aside from their difference in morals, Mr. Trump is no Reaganite. Mr. Sasse, are you ready […]
Archives
-
Reagan Vs. Trump on Trade
10 Sep 2018
-
Short musings on today’s politics–conservatives lose Ohio, Trumpian trade travails, and the “S” word
08 Aug 2018
As wake this morning, the bellwether Ohio special election is too close to call, with Republican Troy Balderson a mere 1500 votes up with 3000 provisional votes and other absentee votes yet uncounted. I suspect he’ll hold on given the red nature of that seat. But conservatives have already lost as he is a panderer […]
-
Whirlpool’s cronyism backfires on them
16 Jul 2018
Whirlpool helped start the cronyism trade policies of the Trump Administration with their cries of unfair practices by their toughest competitors, including Samsung. In the WSJ today (gated), we see that it hasn’t perhaps worked out the way that Whirlpool intended. When they initially had tariffs enacted on washing machines, Marc Bitzer, the chief executive […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
Major Trade War Between the Two Kingdoms
23 Mar 2018
In case you missed the news: Middle-Earth Announces Heavy Tariffs On Narnian Imports
-
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, […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]