4 ms·

maybe. of course, China is currently pursuing a strong yuan policy. propping up the yuan amid massive capital flight. on current capital flows the yuan is overv

maybe. of course, China is currently pursuing a strong yuan policy. propping up the yuan amid massive capital flight. on current capital flows the yuan is overvalued. if you go to Shanghai you're not going to feel like you're in a super weak currency 3rd world country. you're going to feel like you're in boomtown Chicago of the late 19th century. you don't want to have free trade and get cheap stuff from China, slap a massive tariff on them, you pay $2,000 for your iPhone, you deal with massive smokestack industries here, and of course become a manufacturing ghetto since you can't export anything if you refuse to import anything. the flip side of strong dollar is a free lunch and influence since everyone around the world wants dollars. run a closed economy and forget about that. in fact all of Silicon Valley is a product of globalization. Design in California, manufacture in Pearl River delta, sell globally, create a dominant tech culture and ecosystem, most of profits come back to California. yeah, Wall Street is a problem, they're doing a few things like Dodd Frank, CFPB etc. to reduce the free lunch Wall Street gets, could do more. honestly poor muni governance, idiots who refuse to pay taxes for services is a bigger reason pensions are broke.

crdoconnor 11y ago
>you don't want to have free trade and get cheap stuff from China, slap a massive tariff on them, you pay $2,000 for your iPhone, you deal with massive smokestack industries here, and of course become a manufacturing ghetto since you can't export anything if you refuse to import anything. If my rent dropped by 5% and my smartphone price spiked to $2,000 I'd still come out ahead. If this policy continues indefinitely eventually the US industrial ecosystem will be destroyed completely. When that happens China will abandon its "keep the yuan low" policy and your smartphone will suddenly cost $2,000 but the US won't have the expertise or the infrastructure to suddenly rebuild all its factories. That will take decades. Then the US will end up like Argentina - a pale shadow of its former wealth.
- RockyMcNuts 11y ago
  If we turned into Argentina, it would be because of financial mismanagement and poisonous politics, not trade. Like rich people who don't want pay for a civilized society, impoverished masses, populism, breakdown of the social contract, violence and political thievery between the groups. I don't know how much you know about Argentina, but it takes generations of economic mismanagement, predatory politics, and violence to transition from a developed country to a developing country. If a mercantilist trade policy was the only thing keeping the USA wealthy we're not going to stay on top anyway. You don't stay rich by trying to keep the rest of the world poor. That is the attitude that gets you to Argentina politics though. It would be a shame if the richest country in the world were to say economic and civil liberties are great at home, but we're not going to lead by example and deal that way with the rest of the world. Cheap yuan policy is history and has been for a few years, people don't seem to have caught up to that yet.
  - RockyMcNuts 11y ago
    I have to add... trade REALLY has nothing to to do with why your rent is expensive. The chronic shortage of affordable housing is because it doesn't pay to build it or offer it because policy makes it not pay by design (stringent rules on lot size, height limits, number of parking spaces, room size, construction codes, property taxes etc.) because most communities don't want it and want to push it onto the community next door. There's a tendency to try to outlaw poor people resulting in a war on poor people, making it impossible for them to live. The $15 minimum wage is another example of this 'war on poverty.' Some countries make an effort to be let hard-working poor people live with dignity if not much wealth. But here they pay 15.3% FICA on the first dollar they earn, and then people rant about the 47% who don't pay taxes and should have 'skin in the game.' And communities are designed with no transportation, housing options for the poor.

crdoconnor 11y ago

>you don't want to have free trade and get cheap stuff from China, slap a massive tariff on them, you pay $2,000 for your iPhone, you deal with massive smokestack industries here, and of course become a manufacturing ghetto since you can't export anything if you refuse to import anything. If my rent dropped by 5% and my smartphone price spiked to $2,000 I'd still come out ahead. If this policy continues indefinitely eventually the US industrial ecosystem will be destroyed completely. When that happens China will abandon its "keep the yuan low" policy and your smartphone will suddenly cost $2,000 but the US won't have the expertise or the infrastructure to suddenly rebuild all its factories. That will take decades. Then the US will end up like Argentina - a pale shadow of its former wealth.

RockyMcNuts 11y ago
If we turned into Argentina, it would be because of financial mismanagement and poisonous politics, not trade. Like rich people who don't want pay for a civilized society, impoverished masses, populism, breakdown of the social contract, violence and political thievery between the groups. I don't know how much you know about Argentina, but it takes generations of economic mismanagement, predatory politics, and violence to transition from a developed country to a developing country. If a mercantilist trade policy was the only thing keeping the USA wealthy we're not going to stay on top anyway. You don't stay rich by trying to keep the rest of the world poor. That is the attitude that gets you to Argentina politics though. It would be a shame if the richest country in the world were to say economic and civil liberties are great at home, but we're not going to lead by example and deal that way with the rest of the world. Cheap yuan policy is history and has been for a few years, people don't seem to have caught up to that yet.
- RockyMcNuts 11y ago
  I have to add... trade REALLY has nothing to to do with why your rent is expensive. The chronic shortage of affordable housing is because it doesn't pay to build it or offer it because policy makes it not pay by design (stringent rules on lot size, height limits, number of parking spaces, room size, construction codes, property taxes etc.) because most communities don't want it and want to push it onto the community next door. There's a tendency to try to outlaw poor people resulting in a war on poor people, making it impossible for them to live. The $15 minimum wage is another example of this 'war on poverty.' Some countries make an effort to be let hard-working poor people live with dignity if not much wealth. But here they pay 15.3% FICA on the first dollar they earn, and then people rant about the 47% who don't pay taxes and should have 'skin in the game.' And communities are designed with no transportation, housing options for the poor.