Despite some minor points, a very interesting perspective on free trade from Ian Fletcher, the author of Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace It and Why (2nd edn.; 2011), in these videos:
In this video, there are some interesting points about the manner in which free trade is connected to mass immigration:
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fletcher, Ian. 2011. Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace It and Why (2nd edn.). Coalition for a Prosperous America, Sheffield, MA.
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Something I did not like about Ian Fletcher's essays and articles from 5 years back.
ReplyDeleteHe suggested economists should not be involved in the trade debate, because they are not businessmen and have no personal skin in the game.
He, on the other hand, as a lobbyist for business, knows better. Because business has a stake in the issue.
Whatever be his arguments on trade, and they may be good, I thought it was a bit weird. We should let special interest groups dictate public debates on policy and avoid non-partisan researchers from giving an opinion.
I like him. I tend to like to emphasize the "Sectoral Balances" problem of trade deficits, and how it leads to more private debt, public debt, lower savings, or lower growth. But I think Ian Fletcher is very good as far as debunking the general "Free Trade" narrative that goes around.
ReplyDeleteThanks LK, I must say that I was stereotyping you few years back when I read your blog. Not that I didn't like what you wrote but the slogan social democracy brought some negative thoughts since most of them are nutty neoliberals, or at least cultural leftists. I like that you are not a conservative IMO yet you let the conservatives talk also. I don't consider myself conservative but probably I am by the postmodernist cultural left standards. It is not that I am against muslims or immigration but there certainly have to be limits and you are not a racist by demanding them. What kind of free trade is that you pay ten times less salary in a foreign country, don't care about the environmement, import the goods and call anyone who opposes that a protectionist, a bigot etc. That is supposed to be some kind of progressivness? The left is losing because their ideas are morally inferior.
ReplyDeleteBut the project of internatialism is nothing short of racism. They are afraid that European whites will lose the dominance to Asians and other cultures in the world. They think that our values are superior. Yes, we eat pigs instead of dogs, but are we superior because of that?
Kristjan
Deletemaybe western culture is not superior maybe western values are not as good as others i dont know.
but if other people coming to live in western country they should accept and adopt western culture and not impose their culture on western society.
its not about racism or race its i believe healthy policy based on left cultural grounds.
He doesn't really explain why borrowing abroad is bad when interest rates are so low.
ReplyDeleteits not that its always bad but while borrowing in your currency is risk free (since government always solvent in its own currency) borrowing in another country currency is not risk free.
DeleteI agree borrowing in your own is much safer, and you can always devalue. This is in fact something else Ian doesn't mention in these videos.
ReplyDelete