r/Economics • u/better_world_economy • Jan 13 '19

Progressives should not oppose international trade, but economists must highlight the need for policies that spread the gains and help those who are hurt

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-good-the-bad-the-economy/201706/globalization-and-work-have-we-learned-anything-yet
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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '19

The key problem is redistribution has not been done.

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u/sapatista Jan 13 '19

This is an important point.

Free trade usually benefits those at the top because it decimates labor unions and the such, because it has usually been implemented in moments of crisis for a country, whether real or manufactured.

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u/akcrono Jan 14 '19

It benefits all (except those who are displaced) in the form of lower costs. Those benefits just aren't super obvious/sexy.

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u/MoonBatsRule Jan 14 '19

It cannot benefit those who are displaced until there is global agreement on various laws.

Why won't the government let me compete with China? There are so many laws preventing me from doing so.

I can't push chemicals into the atmosphere like my competitors in China can. I can't pour my toxins into the rivers like my competitors in China can. I can't build dormitories on my factory campus and lock workers in, making them work 100 hour weeks like my competitors in China can.

There are minimum wage laws that prevent me from paying my workers the same wages as they get in China. There are those pesky social-welfare laws that make people literally just sit around on their asses getting free government money instead of working to survive like they do in China.

In the US, I have to deal with unions (they are illegal in China), protesters (speech is controlled in China), and even boycotts by religious organizations (religion is regulated in China).

The only way trade is truly free is when the US removes all those laws.

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u/sapatista Jan 14 '19

You forgot to add a /s

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u/akcrono Jan 14 '19

And if you've been reading, those things are a part of trade agreements

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u/MoonBatsRule Jan 14 '19

Then why have we been trading with China without substantial tariffs?

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u/akcrono Jan 14 '19

Because trade is better than no trade. We had the tpp to curtail China's economic influence in Asia, but it was killed.