Loading ...the great enemy of US industry is not our trade partners, it’s the US government. it’s really important to keep that in mind
The Cat Man is a High Level Economist apparently….this piece is enlightening ..VERY
I expect pedro to weigh in and critique
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https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/the-enemy-of-us-industry?
no critique …he’s spot on, and knows his trade theory also.
gato — the key word here is “relative.” many seem inclined to fixate on absolute differences, but this is not what drives trade or specialization. that’s why trade economics winds up being so non-intuitive to many.
pedro — absolutely correct I may be better than you at everything, but it still pays both of us, me included, to do more of what I do relatively best and trade my surpluses with you.
gato — some of this predated BO, but he really turned the screws.
pedro — Yup, check out new small business formation post 2008. He killed small business (who vote mostly Rs)
gato — the path to this is not tariffs that will impose large deadweight losses or free trade that will make us de-industrialize further because we’re the (richer) cats in the ricardo example and would get richer still by making more treats to trade for beds.
the path to this is de-regulation in a real, durable, permanent fashion.
it’s limiting these agencies not just now, but forever.
pedro — agreed, which is why Congress needs to put in lasting changes, impervious to the next wave of demoncrats.
gato’s overarching thesis is that the US standard of living requires we stay OUT IN FRONT ON INNOVATION.
And we hand off basic industrialization to second tier economies. What kills us is China stealing IP and copygatoing too quickly, stunting returns on innovation where it starts (report yesterday that Chinese are literally digging up novel plants in FL farms to copy them at home)
So … Trump … get off the idea of building US flag ships again and rebuilding the rust belt as it was. Instead, focus on education. Doug Casey apparently has a schooling program that integrates real world with academics, and skips the university, to make for well rounded doers and thinkers. Matt Smith is his podcasting pal. Check this out.
https://x.com/mattpheus/status/1909627537824657420