5 ms·

Free trade is usually done on a tit-for-tat basis. I think the GP is saying they should allow protectionist policies without "tatting".

pydry 6y ago
This is effectively how the US built up the industries of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. The reason these countries were allowed to do it where others are not was because the US wanted strategically placed powerful allies in the region. There probably wouldn't be a Japanese electronics/car industry, for instance, if the Soviets hadn't spooked the the US in the 40s.
- dominicl 6y ago
  I'm curious about this argument. Haven't heard the "tiger states" growth attributed solely to US policies. Any links/pointers to those advantages that were granted these states but not other developing countries at the time?
  - sct202 6y ago
    I don't know about solely developed, but South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan did receive substantial amounts of foreign aid in the post-war period. In addition, some of this aid financed land reforms that forced large land owners to break up large holdings and sell to the tenant farmers who previously rented the land. The notoriously small farms in Japan are not a natural free market development.
- Mat342 6y ago
  That's absolute BS, asians are smart and hardworking, US didn't build them
- jbay808 6y ago
  The US built those industries only in the same sense that they built Germany's. Japan's industrial base was built before the 40s, with an extensive domestic supply of machine tools and industrial equipment, rail infrastructure, and finished manufactured goods. Or else who do you think was building the planes, ships, and submarines that the allies were fighting on the Pacific front? Their industries were temporarily damaged by the war but it's no surprise that they'd be back to building cars within a couple decades. They, rather than the US, were the ones who built up much of the initial industrial base of Taiwan and Korea, as part of their own colonization efforts. Not out of so much benevolence, of course.
  - pydry 6y ago
    They weren't building walkmans or cars for export. Their skill base was intact but their industry was razed by WW2. Either way they needed raw materials and markets to develop their industrial base and that required favorable American trade policy, $$$ and military support.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

pydry 6y ago

This is effectively how the US built up the industries of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. The reason these countries were allowed to do it where others are not was because the US wanted strategically placed powerful allies in the region. There probably wouldn't be a Japanese electronics/car industry, for instance, if the Soviets hadn't spooked the the US in the 40s.

dominicl 6y ago
I'm curious about this argument. Haven't heard the "tiger states" growth attributed solely to US policies. Any links/pointers to those advantages that were granted these states but not other developing countries at the time?
- sct202 6y ago
  I don't know about solely developed, but South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan did receive substantial amounts of foreign aid in the post-war period. In addition, some of this aid financed land reforms that forced large land owners to break up large holdings and sell to the tenant farmers who previously rented the land. The notoriously small farms in Japan are not a natural free market development.
Mat342 6y ago
That's absolute BS, asians are smart and hardworking, US didn't build them
jbay808 6y ago
The US built those industries only in the same sense that they built Germany's. Japan's industrial base was built before the 40s, with an extensive domestic supply of machine tools and industrial equipment, rail infrastructure, and finished manufactured goods. Or else who do you think was building the planes, ships, and submarines that the allies were fighting on the Pacific front? Their industries were temporarily damaged by the war but it's no surprise that they'd be back to building cars within a couple decades. They, rather than the US, were the ones who built up much of the initial industrial base of Taiwan and Korea, as part of their own colonization efforts. Not out of so much benevolence, of course.
- pydry 6y ago
  They weren't building walkmans or cars for export. Their skill base was intact but their industry was razed by WW2. Either way they needed raw materials and markets to develop their industrial base and that required favorable American trade policy, $$$ and military support.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]