The Z Spot

Alright. Obama and his potential administration have made some comments that really upset me. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of free trade or fair trade, this should really bother you.

Apparently, China has been unfairly manipulating its currency and its trade, to the detriment of the rest of the world. So we have a developing country (albeit a very quickly developing country) who is undermining the free trade system. They are also not being very fair trade about it.

So, what is the response? Let’s have America throw the weight of its economic and political power (doesn’t sound very fair) into enforcing compliance with our own economic standards (or very free).

I think if anything, China should be an indication that the free market, does, in fact work. They can manipulate their currencies, lower their standards, and allow companies to export poorly made products for so long. Eventually, there will be problems with baby toys, baby formula, etc. and the world will lose trust in Chinese products. We’ll learn to stop buying, because cheaper is not always better.

Perhaps the title of this post is a little unfair, because Republican administrations do this to, but for us to be the police of the “free markets” seems a little absurd. How can we a) continue subsidizing our own unproductive industries (agriculture, aviation, automotive, etc.), and b) use tarifs, embargos, and other economic policies to enforce our standards, and still believe that we are in a position to tell anyone about either free or fair trade?

Trackback URI | Comments RSS