It's really sad that
most people don't know economics.
D. Trump will impose a
35% tax on products made overseas and imported to the United States. The reason
is "America First!", which is a big part of what he promised in order
to get elected. This import tax will protect American jobs, so that the
products will not be farmed-out to cheaper labor.
OK, sounds great, but
how does this play out then? Now, even though General Motors can produce a car
in Mexico for $10,000, it is forced to produce it in Michigan, USA for $13,000.
Who wins from that?
The Michigan auto
worker wins, but you and I who buy the car lose. That is a zero-sum gain for
the United States. Or put another way, you are "robbing Peter to pay
Paul". You are just "pushing the marbles around the table", but
in the end, you have the same number of marbles.
But there is more: you
also start a trade war, because other nations slap a 35% import tax on our
products that we ship to them. So that becomes a zero-sum gain as well. Nobody
wins from that either.
So what's the point of
all this? I think some people just like the be the boss, the big marble pusher.
It's all about power and control.
But one fact remains:
the rich keep getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. If economics is
too confusing, measure the process by its product.
It is said that
Africans have an expression, "When the elephants are fighting, it is
always the grass that suffers."
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