While protectionism may temporarily prop up inefficient industries and businesses, ultimately market forces will prevail, hurting even the favored industry. What follows is a case in point.
In the late 1970s, I was appointed by my company to be its representative in an industry group exploring protectionism for the US copper industry. The allegation was that foreign copper producers (particularly Chilean) were “dumping” copper into the United States market at prices below market. The US producers wanted the US International Trade Commission to curtail the imports.
The Fed Communicates All Too Well (Kasriel, Northern Trust): “Following the May 6 FOMC meeting, at which time the Fed made known its displeasure with further declines in the inflation rate, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes began to fall.... I, of course, have a different take on the reason for the recent backup in yields. I believe that the Fed communicated its intents only too well.... Notice that U.S.
More economic reasoning from the New York Times: “Done right, foreign aid can create legions of new consumers for American goods and services. When new roads are built in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, demand is stimulated for cars, trucks and everything they carry — all of which could be supplied by American businesses. But no single business has enough incentive to bear the huge cost, all by itself, of building those roads. Instead, it’s a job for government.”
Based on the following reasoning, courtesy of CNN.com, technological regress would be a great way to create jobs: “technological improvements have led to a staggering surge in productivity, meaning employers are able to milk much more work out of fewer workers. That’s great news for corporate profitability and economic growth, but of small consolation to the nine million people looking for work. “
Money Central (MSN) on the future of money: “At the peak of the tech boom in 1999, techies raved about how cash was quickly going to become obsolete. Everyone, they said, would pay for things using cards embedded with microprocessor chips -- be it at the dry cleaners, the soda machine or the hotdog vendor. The hype was enough to propel some 2.2 million people to sign up for American Express’s “Blue” card, the first mainstream chip card geared for everyday purchases.
