EclectEcon

Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common: Both dwell on foregone opportunities

C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre . . . . . . . . . . . . . email: jpalmer at uwo dot ca


. . . . . . . . . . .Richard Posner should be awarded the next Nobel Prize in Economics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Hillary Clinton Proposes to Harm Consumers

As the concern about the size of the U.S. trade deficits grows, politicians tend not to look at all their exports of U.S. gubmnt debt, preferring instead to blame foreigners in one way or another. Unannounced U.S. presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has co-sponsored a bill to restrict trade.

"I believe in trade," Mrs. Clinton insisted this week. "But I don't believe in the United States being the only country in the world that truly practises free trade." [right. Just ask Cdn farmers, lumberers, etc. about that!]

Mrs. Clinton pointed out that last year, for the first time, more cars were made in Ontario than Michigan -- the heart of the U.S. auto industry. She and the bill's co-sponsors, including North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, have demanded unspecified sanctions to curtail imports and get the deficit down.


The Globe and Mail article concludes with a series of quotes from previous U.S. political notables, all favouring trade barriers. The attacks on free trade are not going to go away easily.

  • "We are uncompromising in favour-of protection" 1888 REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM
  • "You're going to hear a giant sucking sound of jobs being pulled out of this country" FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ROSS PEROT IN 1992.
  • "All four presidents on Mr. Rushmore were protectionists" FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PAT BUCHANAN IN 1994
  • "Give me a tariff and I will give you the greatest nation on Earth" ABRAHAM LINCOLN
  • "I see nothing wrong with helping American apple growers, cattlemen, steel producers and others to get some compensation for the harm done to them by countries " DEMOCRATIC SEN. ROBERT BYRD OF WEST VIRGINIA
Thanks to BF for the link.
 
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