“Free Trade” is Socialism

[Sammy]

[Superfluous Man]

Sometimes socialism gets sold under the guise of free trade. But this should never be used as an excuse to support tariffs or any other trade restrictions.

[Swordsmyth]

Sometimes socialism gets sold under the guise of free trade. But this should never be used as an excuse to support tariffs or any other trade restrictions.

Tariffs and trade restrictions should be used to keep enemies from using socialism to destroy your free market.
Tariffs are also the best form of taxation and should be used for part or all of your taxation.

[Zippyjuan]

Tariffs and trade restrictions should be used to keep enemies from using socialism to destroy your free market.
Tariffs are also the best form of taxation and should be used for part or all of your taxation.

Tariffs are the government picking winners and losers in society- re-allocating resources in ways it sees fit- not the market. One group pays taxes for the benefit of another group. That is socialist. Even if you choose not to call it that. Deny it all you want and use as many phrases from the Internet Troll book you like- it doesn't change that.

[Swordsmyth]

Tariffs are the government picking winners and losers in society- re-allocating resources in ways it sees fit- not the market. One group pays taxes for the benefit of another group. That is socialist. Even if you choose not to call it that. Deny it all you want and use as many phrases from the Internet Troll book you like- it doesn't change that.

That's a load of garbage, defensive tariffs keep foreign enemies from picking winners and losers in our economy and general tariffs tax everyone the same to fund legitimate government functions just like any other tax.

You are the one following a troll playbook but it isn't a very good one.

[Zippyjuan]

That's a load of garbage, defensive tariffs keep foreign enemies from picking winners and losers in our economy and general tariffs tax everyone the same to fund legitimate government functions just like any other tax.

You are the one following a troll playbook but it isn't a very good one.

Ron Paul disagrees with you.

[Swordsmyth]

Ron Paul disagrees with you.

Ron wants general tariffs, he has said so many times, defensive tariffs are one of his few errors.

You citing Ron is a joke.

[Zippyjuan]

Ron wants general tariffs, he has said so many times, defensive tariffs are one of his few errors.

You citing Ron is a joke.

I would have thought you might have read some Ron Paul by this time. I get that you do ignore things which conflict with the message you are trying to push, though.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/09/ron-...consumers.html

If threatened U.S. trade tariffs against China go into effect, they’ll hurt working Americans, Ron Paul told CNBC on Monday.

President Donald Trump needs to stop “blaming a free market and capitalism” for the U.S. trade imbalances with China and other nations, said Paul, a former 12-term GOP congressman from Texas and three-time presidential candidate.

“If we can’t compete then we have to say, ‘Why can’t we compete?’” he said.

But trying to fix decades of “mismanaged” trade with tariffs is the wrong approach, Paul argued on “Squawk on the Street.”

“A tariff can’t fix this. A tariff is a tax and the tax is on the people who live in the country who raises it,” he said. “People that might be enjoying $25 tennis shoes will have to pay $100. That doesn’t help anybody.”

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...ot-the-answer/

President Trump’s planned 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports may provide a temporary boost for those industries, but the tariffs will do tremendous long-term damage to the American and global economies. Tariffs raise the price of, and reduce demand for, imported goods. Tariffs ensure the preferences of politicians, instead of the preferences of consumers, to determine how resources are allocated. This reduces economic efficiency and living standards.

Some justify these economic inefficiencies as being worth it to save American jobs. This ignores how tariffs increase costs of production for industries reliant on imported materials to produce their products. These increased costs lead to job losses in those industries. For example, President Trump’s proposed steel tariff could cost nearly 40,000 jobs in the steel-dependent auto manufacturing industry. Tariffs also cause job losses in industries reliant on exports. This is especially true if — as is likely to be the case — other countries respond to President Trump’s actions by increasing tariffs on US products.

Foreign manufacturers may make convenient scapegoats for the problems facing US industry. However, the truth is that most of the problems plaguing American businesses stem from the US government. American businesses are burdened by thousands of federal regulations controlling every aspect of their operations. The tax system also burdens businesses. Until last year’s tax reform bill, the US had the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. The tax reform bill lowered corporate taxes, but the US corporate tax rate is still higher than that of many other developed countries.

President Trump’s claim that trade wars can be easily won is as credible as the neoconservative claim that the Iraq War would be a cakewalk. A trade war would likely push the global economy into a recession or worse. Instead of imposing costs on American businesses and consumers and putting those whose livelihoods depend on imports out of s job, President Trump should address the real causes of our economic problems: the welfare-warfare state, the IRS, and the Federal Reserve.

I could post more but you would probably not read them.

[Swordsmyth]

I would have thought you might have read some Ron Paul by this time. I get that you do ignore things which conflict with the message you are trying to push, though.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/09/ron-...consumers.html




http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...ot-the-answer/







I could post more but you would probably not read them.

I said he is wrong about defensive tariffs and he is, you should read what I say before responding