> Your mathematics don't make any sense. I haven't done any mathematics. > If I lose 20% of my wages, for a 10% reduction in the cost of consumer goods, this

> Your mathematics don't make any sense. I haven't done any mathematics. > If I lose 20% of my wages, for a 10% reduction in the cost of consumer goods, this will put me into a net -14% deficit. What's the basis for these numbers? First of all, foreign labor isn't 20% cheaper, it's 50-75% cheaper. That's why there's not that much manufacturing left in the US. Secondly, direct and indirect labor cost accounts for far more than fifty percent. Profit margins for consumer goods are usually in the single digits. Remember, I'm talking about the scenario where everyone has their profession protected. In practice, you are either protected by virtue of not being outsourcable, or by government intervention. You don't see the government artificially keeping a huge domestic garment industry alive, for instance. We leave that labor in East Asia. Still, you can buy domestic garments, but they are massively more expensive. In practice, assembly work in a car factory is not such a big factor of overall car costs as to raise prices of cars massively. You can argue that only these people should be protected, it just would be unfair. > Every other country on Earth manages to provide equivalent or better healthcare, for much lower prices. Every other country? What are you talking about? Most people in the world barely have any access to health care at a level close to that of the US. Sure, people in Europe on average get a better deal, but again, they also earn less. Of course health care is cheaper if every doctor, every nurse, every clerk earns less. It also helps to not have million dollar malpractice settlements, or not letting pharma companies set their own prices. It's not all sugar and spice though: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/nhs-failure-health-service https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/nhs-fa... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/6127514/Sentenced-to-death-on-the-NHS.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/6127514/Sentenc...