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Raise the Tariff
Jimmy_Scythe
Member CommonPosts: 3,586
So we're having a kerfuffle over the economy and the deficit here in the U.S. and this morning it occurs to me that we kill both birds with one stone. Raise the tariff.
Think about how many things you buy that have a 'Made in China' label on them. Think about how many people COULD have been employed of those goods were made here instead. Consider the fact that the U.S. tarif is lower today than it has ever been. Also keep in mind that we give factories huge local, state, and fedral tax breaks as an incentive to manufacture here.
Companies send these jobs to other countries because the labor is cheaper. By raising the tariff, we counter the downward spiral of perpetually under-cutting labor costs. The market in many of these third world countries isn't really strong enough to support the kinds of products that are made in the sweatshops therein. Without money from the West, those factories would be dead in the water.
Starve the beast and feed yourselves.
Comments
Part of a larger problem, eliminating globalism is going to take more than just tariffs but it is a definite start. Interdependence is the worst enemy of all nations, especially the economically weaker ones (look at what we've done to Mexico). The only way all of this is going to get fixed for the long run is returning to a system where everyone is at least self-sufficient, putting international trade second. That way if one country gets fucked over by their own treasonous bankers, it doesn't drag other nations down with it because they have tied their existence to the continued stability of a certain export or investment.
Do away with the stock market: I don't see the point in maintaining a system whose benefits are only seen by a select few, but when it goes wrong, it substantially harms everyone.
Make outsourcing a capital offense if that same employer doesn't create as many domestic jobs as they export: how is selling your countrymen's livelihood to an enemy nation on a massive scale any different than selling nuclear secrets to that same nation? They both result in harm to millions of individuals, only with outsourcing the damage is actually direct. They are both treason, and should be dealt with accordingly.
If CEOs wish to continue to operate as if the laws of the land don't apply to them, then make none of the laws apply to them: Constitutional rights, rights to police protection, etc. no longer apply to these people. Remove their rights to run to a court when the wrong they do to people gets turned back on them, make killing them in broad daylight completely legal, they'll get their shit together. If they can make people love them, people won't want to harm them. That, and the added security detail will create jobs.
Attach a substantial markup to imports (+50%) of products produced by corporations that have moved out of the country, or that are run by former inhabitants/citizens of this country. A variation on the tariff, a countermeasure to the above since in light of being treated like the criminals that they are, some of them will inevitably leave their country of origin. Essentially a fuck you for throwing your own kind under the bus, but still attempting to leach off them.
I'm sure I could come up with more, but it has already become a list of things that would work beautifully, but would never happen due to the entrenched lobbyist tradition.
Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
They might be able to operate more efficiently or offer products at lower cost, but if they sank an entire job market when they abandoned their own country, how are those people who are now jobless going to afford these cheaper products? Hence forcing them to seed an equal or greater amount of domestic jobs before betraying their nation.
Buying something for cheaper doesn't make up for having zero income.
Well it's a two edged sword. At the same time it also allowed western countries to develop the tertiary industry. If we needed to manufacture and grow everything ourselves we most likely wouldn't have the necessary workforce left for the tertiary market.
I think it's all a matter of balance and needs to be analysed case by case. How much less do the goods cost? how many jobs were lost? etc. I don't think we should force a company to produce things locally if it means doubling the costs compared to outsourcing. However if the margin difference is negligible than i think we shouldn't let em outsource, the cons would outweight the pro's.
Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
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