09-28-2016, 06:31 PM
And as we argued before, Trump's stance on trade is hot air, it's simply a convenient ploy that taps into the angst and decline of the middle class whilst enable him to clobber his adversaries.
Worse, if he actually takes it serious (rather than just use it as a campaign/debate tool), it's suggested solution (protectionism) will do much more harm than good.
There is simply no evidence to suggest that trade the sole, or even biggest responsible for the disappearance of good paying manufacturing jobs. This is simply mostly down to automation, we're able to run many plants with a fraction of the manpower compared to a few decades ago.
Just as the disappearance of agricultural jobs (which a century ago employed half the working population) is mostly due to mechanization, the same holds for manufacturing.
Worse, if he actually takes it serious (rather than just use it as a campaign/debate tool), it's suggested solution (protectionism) will do much more harm than good.
Quote:Trump did not “win” the trade portion of the debate so much as Clinton lost it. Trump’s understanding on trade is at best simplistic; at worst, it’s a total fantasy. Whenever he gets into specifics, he betrays his deep-seated ignorance of basic policy. Trump began the debate by saying, “Thank you, Lester. Our jobs are fleeing the country.” This is not true—we’ve added jobs for the last 78 months—but it set the (Millenarian) tone of the next ten minutes. During the portion on trade, Trump claimed that Ford Motor Company was rushing to get out of the country (it isn’t), that China is devaluing its currency (it’s propping it up), and that Mexico and China were thriving because of the jobs they had stolen from us (neither country is thriving).Donald Trump Is Owning Hillary Clinton on Trade | New Republic
Trump has been saying this for the last 15 months. It’s effective not because it’s true, or because it suggests a plausible plan of action, but because it speaks to the pain and anger felt in many of the former manufacturing areas of the country that have been particularly hard hit over the last 40 years.
There is simply no evidence to suggest that trade the sole, or even biggest responsible for the disappearance of good paying manufacturing jobs. This is simply mostly down to automation, we're able to run many plants with a fraction of the manpower compared to a few decades ago.
Just as the disappearance of agricultural jobs (which a century ago employed half the working population) is mostly due to mechanization, the same holds for manufacturing.