I have a Ross Perot campaign t-shirt. It's one of my favorite things. (Not an endorsement of all his politics, I should say.) The simple fact is, yes, factories closed after we signed NAFTA: They we're going to close anyway. Our options were: Erect trade barriers (make things more expensive, make us uncompetitive, be poorer) or try and c…
I have a Ross Perot campaign t-shirt. It's one of my favorite things. (Not an endorsement of all his politics, I should say.) The simple fact is, yes, factories closed after we signed NAFTA: They we're going to close anyway. Our options were: Erect trade barriers (make things more expensive, make us uncompetitive, be poorer) or try and create efficient supply chains which helped us still make things here. It worked!
I don't really think there are clear winners and losers in NAFTA. I think the costs and benefits are so massive and unqualtifiable that all you can really do is say: Life is pretty good, and the alternatives don't look so hot.
As for what to do? I was certainly a big believer in the idea that you've got to keep offering Trump genuine plans to improve the bilateral relation and some shiny baubles to see if he relents. We should keep doing it. It might work.
But also I think it's clear he's going to enact these tariffs. So I think we need to move forward with our plan to make them as costly as possible, whilst improving trade links with other nations (particularly the EU and Mexico, but also with Korea, Peru, Turkey, Australia, NZ, Syria, etc etc). I genuinely think that we can mimize the impacts on us while maximizing the effects on them. We may be in four a rough 2-4 years, but I think we have an integral role to play in making sure that this damage is only inflicted for 2 years — and not 20.
I have a Ross Perot campaign t-shirt. It's one of my favorite things. (Not an endorsement of all his politics, I should say.) The simple fact is, yes, factories closed after we signed NAFTA: They we're going to close anyway. Our options were: Erect trade barriers (make things more expensive, make us uncompetitive, be poorer) or try and create efficient supply chains which helped us still make things here. It worked!
I don't really think there are clear winners and losers in NAFTA. I think the costs and benefits are so massive and unqualtifiable that all you can really do is say: Life is pretty good, and the alternatives don't look so hot.
As for what to do? I was certainly a big believer in the idea that you've got to keep offering Trump genuine plans to improve the bilateral relation and some shiny baubles to see if he relents. We should keep doing it. It might work.
But also I think it's clear he's going to enact these tariffs. So I think we need to move forward with our plan to make them as costly as possible, whilst improving trade links with other nations (particularly the EU and Mexico, but also with Korea, Peru, Turkey, Australia, NZ, Syria, etc etc). I genuinely think that we can mimize the impacts on us while maximizing the effects on them. We may be in four a rough 2-4 years, but I think we have an integral role to play in making sure that this damage is only inflicted for 2 years — and not 20.
(Apologies for making more typos than usual. I sometimes reply to comments on my phone!)
No worries! Also, not sure why Substack is only just now notifying me about your reply, almost a month later.