Obviously, Thomas Knapp is just:
On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 9:49 AM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > 4/20/2017 > > *"Buy American, Hire American" is Anti-American *By Thomas Knapp > > On April 18, US president Donald Trump visited the Kenosha, Wisconsin > <http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.5822222222,-87.8455555556&spn=0.1,0.1&q=42.5822222222,-87.8455555556%20(Kenosha%2C%20Wisconsin)&t=h> > headquarters of Snap-on to speak in front of an American flag made of the > company's tools and publicly sign an executive order titled "Hire American, > Buy American." > > The order itself is small beans -- it just orders four federal agency > heads (Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and State) to "review" policies > and recommend changes that tend toward hiring and spending domestically > instead of abroad. But such changes would just increase Americans' cost of > living (and their taxes) rather than "saving Americans' jobs." > > In his signing remarks > <https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/18/remarks-president-trump-buy-american-hire-american-executive-order>, > Trump complains that "for too long, we've watched as our factories have > been closed and our jobs have been sent to other faraway lands." He omits > both the reasons for manufacturing moving abroad and the effects of > manufacturing moving abroad. > > Capital tends to flow to where it can be most profitably invested. There's > no secret conspiracy to deprive Bob in Wisconsin of gainful employment so > that Li can have a job in Shenzhen. If a manufacturer can make a widget in > Shenzhen, get that widget to America, and sell it at less than the cost of > making it in Kenosha, Shenzhen wins ... and so does the consumer who buys > that widget for less than it would have cost if Bob had made it. In fact, > that consumer may be Bob himself, who's now hopefully making or doing > something more profitable than manufacturing widgets. > > I have two relatives who worked (in the 1980s) for a company that made > blue jeans. One operated a sewing machine, the other was a sewing machine > mechanic. Then the factory closed and the company moved production abroad. > > They both found jobs in other fields. I've not discussed their wages or > working conditions with them, but my impression is that they made out okay. > Not everyone does, but on the whole we're better off with freer trade that > tends to lower the prices we pay for goods and push our own work toward its > most profitable and efficient uses. > > The other day, I went shopping for jeans, and it suddenly occurred to me > that the pair I was looking at cost less than a similar pair I bought circa > 1990, and that not even accounting for inflation. I thought of my relatives. > > Trump claims to be thinking of my relatives too, but his economic > fantasies would harm them in the name of protecting them. > > https://www.opednews.com/articles/Buy-American-Hire- > Americ-by-Thomas-Knapp-Buy-American_Trump-Executive-Order-170420-200.html > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
