There are obviously two opposite views of Obama's trade policy concerning the Far East, especially after the disaster of NAFTA. My view is probably incorrect since it contradicts most economic teaching. But simply looking at the relative position in the world that the United States holds today, compared to decades ago, shows that free trade doesn't work for us because the rest of the world exploits it by managing to run a massive trade surplus I have long been in favor of some kind of law that simply says we cannot have a long lasting trade imbalance with any country, especially in major industries, and measures must be taken to correct this. After all, this is what they do to us, smiling all the way.
And the proposed legalistic structure of this pact, which parallels that of FIFA , in giving small nations legal equality with larger ones ones, leads itself to easy corruption.
In a world where everyone played fair, Adam Smith as well as the Economist and Wall Street Journal articles , would be correct. it is often quoted that tariffs contributed to the Depression and WW II which followed , but the current economic imbalance in the world is weakening us without making the world any more peaceful--probably the opposite , since somehow we are supposed to defend everyone against Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, ISIS, et al, but can't expect Japan, South Korea and all the other beneficiaries of more trade in their favor to help us much.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure that economics really works for anybody these days except for a relatively small group of extremely rich people. And even more unfortunately, these are the people who seem to be running everything.
HZL
6/13/15
THE LAME DUCK BLUES
"Getting one's ducks in a row"
is slang for getting everything in tow,
and is any duck lamer than a Presidential Lame Duck?
Though he would like to strut
with steps that are fancy
there is a considerable "but"
and her name is Nancy
who doesn't give a f-
about adding to his his soon-to-be-historical weight,
even though obviously, it's getting very, very late.
hzl
6/13/15
Complete one's preparations, become efficient and well organised. This synonym for get one's act together probably alludes to lining up target ducks in a shooting gallery. Slang; 1970s
I'm trying to get my ducks in a row before I go to Munich.
by Robin Morgan November 15, 2007
Pelosi Knifes Obama - WSJ
www.wsj.com/.../pelosi-knifes-obama-143415098411 hours ago - President Obama with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday. ... Mr. Obama began the day by paying a rare, unannounced visit to ...
The Wall Street Journal
The politics of trade
Obama's agenda in the balance
A FEW years ago a wise pollster—pondering how labels like left-wing and right-wing have been scrambled by globalisation—came up with a different way to sort voters in Western democracies. Electorates, he suggested, broadly divide into two groups, one of which sees change and the outside world as a threat, and a second which takes a more optimistic view, looking for opportunities to harness global forces and turn them to good ends. The pollster, Stefan Shakespeare of YouGov, calls these two camps “Drawbridge Up” and “Drawbridge Down” people.
Just after lunch on June 12th President Barack Obama was mugged by the Drawbridge Up bit of America, or at least by its elected representatives. A large majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives, joined by hard-right Republicans, voted to stall (and potentially kill) his hopes of reaching a big new free-trade pact between America and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Senate has already passed a bill that would allow Mr Obama to press ahead with TPP, and the House may return to the question as early as Tuesday.
Reflecting how trade scrambles partisan positions, Mr Obama is strongly supported by Republican leaders in Congress and their business allies. But Republicans are sufficiently divided that without substantial backing from moderate Democrats, TPP cannot happen.
Opposition to the president’s trade agenda involves an odd alliance between Democrats who distrust global trade and Republican hardliners who distrust Mr Obama and resent being asked to give him more authority .,....
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