Poll: free trade, good or bad?

[alphatarget1]

IMO: bad. we have huge trade deficits.

 

[zephyrprime]

A lot of our "free trade" is one sided. It's only free for them to trade with us but not for us to trade with them. Such isn't the case for things like NAFTA though.

 

[chrisms]

I think many people support "free trade" only because the term used to describe it. Why not make foreigners pay our taxes? Why not promote the growth of American companies? Free trade is terrible.

 

[Zebo]

As it is now is bad. We are loosing jobs. Third world is being exploited. While China continues it's aparthied, stealing intellectual property and human rights violations.

Fair trade is what we need. Every dollar a country imports they are allowed to export a dollar to the same.

 

[LunarRay]

We are the worlds largest market. If we had full employment then trade is fine but, isolate now.
build all them computer parts here and autos and everything. I'm sure we can figure out how..

 

[JellyBaby]

Free trade is great for a subset of the population who enjoys cheap imported goods. It's terrible for a subset of the population out of work because of gross trade imbalances.

The opposite end, protectionism, is great for a subset of the population guaranteed a high paying job and a place to sell. It's terrible in terms of efficiency and leads to higher priced goods.

 

[Miramonti]

The trade imbalances are deceiving because much of what is imported are products manufactured by american companies and then imported, and isn't exactly foreign countries exploiting free trade.

This practice increases the profit margin for our companies because the labor is so cheap (and exploited) abroad, but also keeps the prices down to the pleasure of american consumers.

So whats more important, consumer friendly prices for the majority of the population which is working, or job friendly practices for the lesser population thats unemployed, at the expense of corporate profits/growth?

 

[Brie]

Originally posted by: jjsole
The trade imbalances are deceiving because much of what is imported are products manufactured by american companies and then imported, and isn't exactly foreign countries exploiting free trade.

This practice increases the profit margin for our companies because the labor is so cheap (and exploited) abroad, but also keeps the prices down to the pleasure of american consumers.

So whats more important, consumer friendly prices for the majority of the population which is working, or job friendly practices for the lesser population thats unemployed, at the expense of corporate profits/growth?

Its also intresting that many people are all in favor of price controls for purchaced goods but true price controls would include controls on labor costs. There are many jobs that have extremely inflated wages but most dont see that these would be affected as well. A true free market economy would eliminate unfriendly practices due to low demand for those jobs...

 

[Martin]

I think the end result will be good...but the process is nasty.

 

[Ferocious]

free trade is indeed good.

But it should be free and FAIR.

That is generally not the case at this time.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: MartyTheManiak
I think the end result will be good...but the process is nasty.

 

[Moonbeam]

Soon the machines will make everything. There will be no need for trade. There will be nothing to do but be happy.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Soon the machines will make everything. There will be no need for trade. There will be nothing to do but be happy.

Chinese are cheaper than machines. $2 a day, no union prolems, 14 hour days, no enviromental constants, unlimited supply of county people to be laborers etc... to power the machines costs more.

 

[MovingTarget]

Free trade? It can be good, but only if its FAIR trade. We could benefit from it as it can help bring down the cost of goods. However, the problem comes where, as zephyrprime said, where trade is imbalanced. Congress should make sure that it is since it has the power. If any country doesnt have truly free trade with us, then we should not have free trade with them, pure and simple. We should increase tarriffs on those countries' goods to match what they charge on our goods.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Soon the machines will make everything. There will be no need for trade. There will be nothing to do but be happy.

Chinese are cheaper than machines. $2 a day, no union prolems, 14 hour days, no enviromental constants, unlimited supply of county people to be laborers etc... to power the machines costs more.

The machines will probably use sunlight, earth and nanotechnology to build themselves. Moore's law says they aren't that far away.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

"free trade" is simply a tool for globalization and hence "one-world government." I'd say that's a bad thing.

 

[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Soon the machines will make everything. There will be no need for trade. There will be nothing to do but be happy.

Chinese are cheaper than machines. $2 a day, no union prolems, 14 hour days, no enviromental constants, unlimited supply of county people to be laborers etc... to power the machines costs more.

The machines will probably use sunlight, earth and nanotechnology to build themselves. Moore's law says they aren't that far away.

..more "nanotechnology" nonsense; what makes me laugh is all the supporters of this conceptual idea of making automobiles out of thin air by rearranging their molecule structure are usually the same clowns [speaking to the avatar, of course] who like to argue conversely and use the "we can't hit a bullet with a bullet" line when it comes to missile defense.

 

[NesuD]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
IMO: bad. we have huge trade deficits.

What we have right now is not truly free trade no matter what it is called. Citing trade deficits though doesn't really prove anything though. We have had trade deficits since long before the free traders became popular.