Attention Economy


Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Fallacies Associated with International Trade [Updated]

“We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.” – George Orwell

Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs notes:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/opinions/trump-tariff-move-shows-his-ignorance-sachs/index.html
“Trump thinks that America runs trade deficits with countries like China and Germany because the US is being swindled by them. The real reason is that the US saves too little and consumes too much, and it pays for this bad habit by borrowing from the rest of the world. The Trump theory of international trade is like a man in deep debt who blames his creditors for his spendthrift behavior.”

How the U.S. Squandered Its Steel Superiority

Trump's Tariffs Look Like a Self-Inflicted Wound

Steel and Aluminum Jobs Don't Add Up to Much

US Manufacturing – Still Going Strong

Tariffs imposed on Solar Panels & Washing Machine by the US Government will prove to be a costly mistake:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-dangerous-precedent-on-trade-brought-to-you-by-solar-panel-tariffs/article/2646758

Megan McArdle on Tariffs on Solar Panels and Washing Machines
“Raising the cost of solar panels will have an adverse impact on the jobs of solar panel installers, and mean more power generated from dirtier, limited resources. These tariffs are economically distortionary and bad for Americans, and they should be lifted.
But the impact on American consumers of higher washing machine prices is immensely greater than the impact of higher solar panel prices.”

The Idiocy of Trade Tariffs

Why Free Trade Matters by Harvard economist Greg Mankiw
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/business/trump-economists-trade-tariffs.html

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 – History Lesson