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Leaked Trump bill proposal to blow up the WTO

Underseer said:
https://www.axios.com/trump-trade-w...tes-d51278d2-0516-4def-a4d3-ed676f4e0f83.html

Caught this link from Paul Krugman, who thinks it would be a bad idea.

I'm not so sure. The WTO has done a lot of damage to poorer countries over the decades.

Would this be a good thing or a bad thing?
Click to expand...
There is no need to blow anything, US can simply leave WTO.
And what damage are you talking about? WTO does not allow inefficient economies to protect itself from more efficient.

In general WTO is a good thing because it prevents WW3.
 
Great idea if we think pre-WWII economics models are a workable solution. But generally, trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube is a futile idea.
 
I don't think that even the republicans would be stupid enough to pass this. There are more than 2 repub senators who are against the tarriffs he's already proposed.

Now lets see if Trump is stupid enough to introduce it ahead of elections as a loyalty test.
 
Derec said:
Underseer said:
https://www.axios.com/trump-trade-w...tes-d51278d2-0516-4def-a4d3-ed676f4e0f83.html

Caught this link from Paul Krugman, who thinks it would be a bad idea.

I'm not so sure. The WTO has done a lot of damage to poorer countries over the decades.

Would this be a good thing or a bad thing?
Click to expand...

US FaRT Act? Are you and Krugman sure this was not just some staffer's idea of a sophomoric joke?
Click to expand...

You caught me! This is fake news! It's all a liberal plot to make Trump look bad! [/sarcasm]
 
Derec said:
Underseer said:
https://www.axios.com/trump-trade-w...tes-d51278d2-0516-4def-a4d3-ed676f4e0f83.html

Caught this link from Paul Krugman, who thinks it would be a bad idea.

I'm not so sure. The WTO has done a lot of damage to poorer countries over the decades.

Would this be a good thing or a bad thing?
Click to expand...

US FaRT Act? Are you and Krugman sure this was not just some staffer's idea of a sophomoric joke?
Click to expand...

The Wall Street Journal is in on the joke.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-war-on-the-wto-1530723098

Fake news. Obviously.
 
barbos said:
... WTO does not allow inefficient high wage economies to protect itself themselves from more efficient lower wages by the WTO imposing transnational regulations.

In general, WTO is a good thing because it prevents WW3.
Click to expand...

If you feel strongly that what defines an efficient economy is low wages and higher profits then do your part for your country and ask your boss to lower your own wages. We thank you for your service.

It is one of the glaring inconsistencies of the free market/free trade mantra that dominates our political economics today that national regulations enforced by faceless bureaucrats are considered to be an economy and a job killer but transnational regulations enforced by faceless bureaucrats are considered to be an absolute necessity.

It almost seems as if the free market/free trade mantra isn't about efficient, well-run economies as much as it is about increasing the profits of the large transnational corporations who are the only ones who would benefit from this inconsistency in economic theory.
 
Free trade benefits the workers in low wage countries, consumers in the high wage countries, the multinational corporations, and their stockholders.

Free trade disadvantages the workers in high wage countries. consumers in the low wage countries, and the small businesses in the high wage countries.

The proponents of free trade claim that the lower wages that the workers in the high wage earning countries are more than compensated for by the lower cost of goods resulting from free trade. But this can't be. The lower wages result in both lower prices and in higher profits. It is the wages that are converted into higher profits that make the reassuring idea that free trade more than compensates for lower wages with lower prices impossible.

And this is before any questions about the distribution of the benefits are resolved. In the US only about 20% of the economy is subject to international competition and it is the wages in this 20% that are suppressed because of free trade but consumers in all of the economy benefit from the lower cost of the consumer goods. Free trade redistributes money from workers in that 20% to corporate profits and to consumers in the whole economy. And no, there is no empirical evidence that the higher corporate profits result in higher corporate investment.
 
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SimpleDon said:
Free trade benefits the workers in low wage countries, consumers in the high wage countries, the multinational corporations, and their stockholders.

Free trade disadvantages the workers in high wage countries. consumers in the low wage countries, and the small businesses in the high wage countries.
Click to expand...

Pure nonsense.

In general, free trade benefits the businesses who export and the workers in those export industries, but may hurt consumers who purchase the goods now being exported as their price will rise.

Businesses who have to compete with imports are generally harmed, along with the workers at those companies, but the consumers of imported goods will benefit from the lower prices. Consumers include businesses using imported materials and services, who also benefit.

The overall benefits described above exceed the harm, which is why free trade makes a country more prosperous as a whole, yet the costs and benefits will not be evenly distributed.
 
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