It’s Friday and the weekend is upon us; sadly it looks like my BBQ is going to get rained out but better some rain than a draught I always say. Glad you guys made it through the week, hopefully without consulting a practitioner of the behavioral sciences. Always remember that these individuals elected the field of study so they could understand themselves. Should extraterrestrial civilizations decide to visit earth they too would find them to be utterly inept. Between practitioners who prescribe neuroleptics turning some of these poor bastards into serial killers and those that think you’re in denial, your best option is to shoot the shit and preserve your cognitive skills. So lets talk about free trade and protectionism.

The media is hopeless, I honestly don’t know what is happening with our press but someone needs to take their iPhones away and cancel their Facebook accounts to force them into research and objectivity. Free Trade is an academic concept that simply does not exist, and, of course, you know  that academics have never stayed up at night trying to figure out how to meet an upcoming payroll. The concept of free trade looks good on paper or when discussing their academic credentials over truffles.

Free trade is the unhampered flow of goods and services across borders. Canadian businesses, for example, would be allowed to sell Canadian products freely in the U.S. market and U.S. products would be allowed access to the Canadian market. Under this model, companies compete for market share, with market share going to those companies accepted by local consumers; it is by definition pure competition. This is generally a good thing resulting in superior products and lower prices for all consumers involved. However, free trade does not exist in practical application, much like communist theory of thesis and antithesis. Why? There are a number of reasons.

Governments rely on local industries to employ citizens, generate tax revenues and some industries are strategic to national security.  Imagine, just for one moment,  that due to moronic trade policy,  U.S. steel, semiconductor, petrochemical and energy sectors  are eliminated under the auspices of free trade. This means that global suppliers, by controlling exports and or prices, could readily influence U.S. foreign policy. The foundation of our military is our industrial base so a deterioration of our industry would have a deleterious effect on our national security.

In 2017 the U.S. trade deficit grew to $568.4 billion, these are revenues leaving the country and flowing to foreign suppliers; therefore, unavailable to U.S. businesses in the form of revenues. The loss in revenues constrict U.S. businesses, employment and economic output as expressed in GDP estimates. So, when you hear the media call the Trump administration protectionist, take into account that virtually all of the G20 countries are too protectionists, for reasons I mentioned earlier.

Fixing the problem requires that our trading partners grant U.S. companies equal access to their markets, without impediments, provided products are not hazardous to its citizens or threaten sovereign national security. To date, this has not happened; a fact supported by the increasing year over year trade deficit. China is a whole different issue, take this to the bank!

China’s industry is a branch of the Chinese military establishment . They have attacked the U.S. economy with industrial espionage, invest in U.S. companies to acquire technology, manipulated their labor force along with its currency. China is a threat to the UK, France, Germany and the industrialized world as a whole, and the gloves need to come off globally. We need to rethink how global markets deal with China.

I for one, will get behind what this administration is trying to do and avoid Chinese products or their surrogates’. I encourage you to do the same for the long term health of the country. I won’t even get into some of the quality issues.

So, the next time you hear some imbecil in the media, or government, refer to the administration’s trade policies as protectionist, ask them for a list of countries that allow unrestricted access to their markets.

Have a great weekend, but be safe and spend some quality time with your buds and family.