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So when will Cato just go full-on globalist neoliberal and demand that weapons production should not be a national concern? Maybe we can contract out production

So when will Cato just go full-on globalist neoliberal and demand that weapons production should not be a national concern? Maybe we can contract out production of F-35 engines to China, and close that plant in Vermont that Congressperson Bernie Sanders lobbied so hard for? Or maybe ULA's production facility in Alabama, a gift to Congressperson Richard Shelby, could be moved to Honduras to take advantage of the cheap labor costs? Yes, higher domestic labor costs mean less profits to distribute to the entities that finance the Cato Institute. Regardless, regional realities mean that shortening supply line for critical necessities is a wise move in an increasingly unstable world (that instability being due to well-known factors like resource starvation, climate destabilization, population pressure, etc.). This doesn't mean that well-regulated global trade isn't a benefit to all partners, it just means that trade in things like luxury items (whose loss from local economies doesn't cause critical failures) is quite different from trade in fundamental necessities (whose loss does). As far as the Jones Act, here's a good counterargument to Cato: https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/06/05/why-the-jones-act-is-still-needed-100-years-later/ https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/06/05/wh... To imagine life without this law, consider the risks we would face if foreign-owned companies were allowed to conduct our domestic trade during this pandemic. Foreign companies would be able to influence the flow of domestic goods and resources that are keeping our economy afloat. Thousands of now-secure American jobs throughout our shipbuilding and maritime workforces would be threatened, and foreign governments could gain even more undue leverage over our economy.

eru 4y ago
Most other economies don't have the equivalent of the Jones Act. Did they have a worse experience in the pandemic?
- photochemsyn 4y ago
  Repealing the Jones Act in particular is really about outsourcing the construction of ship-building to places like China and India to get the cheapest labor rates and maximize profits. The well-known scarcity of medical supplies during the pandemic is part of the broader trend of neoliberal globalization. > "Among ocean-going commercial ships, worldwide 2,873 are under construction and China is building 1,291 of them while the U.S. is building only 8 (as tracked by the shipbroker BRS Group). The other leaders are Japan with 697 and South Korea with 475, both also heavily-subsidized, although less than China’s mega-billions. Other nations subsidize the building of commercial ships, including India and France. But the U.S. discontinued its shipbuilding subsidies decades ago." https://townhall.com/columnists/ernestistook/2020/04/23/china-could-gain-the-most-if-the-us-ended-our-jones-act-n2567498 https://townhall.com/columnists/ernestistook/2020/04/23/chin... Note the above article has a kind of 'fear China' theme, but the reality is that the US oligarchs in the shipping industry would be the immediate primary beneficiary, in terms of profit margins and overall labor/material costs. Of course, if the US economy and state goes belly up, they'll run off to hidey holes in New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland or similar.
  - JAlexoid 4y ago
    I think you should be banned from using any equipment not entirely made in USA, by US citizens and by a company owned by a US citizen. You know - be the nat-con that you're expressing here
    - photochemsyn 4y ago
      I think the fundamental point here is that neoliberal trade policy is supported by both 'libs' and 'cons', and also that the lib-con distinction is mostly just political posturing over issues whose outcomes have relatively little fundamental economic impacts. An analogy for an American lib vs. con political contest might be the members of a homeowners association getting to vote over what color curtains are allowed. Take NAFTA as a case example - even though noted 'con' Trump campaigned in the Rust Belt on opposition to NAFTA and TPP, with the latter heavily supported by 'lib' Obama, once in office NAFTA was merely renamed the USMCA, and the Rust Belt is as far away from a manufacturing renaissance as it was a decade ago, and the TPP is now being flogged by the 'cons' at the National Review, so.
      - eru 4y ago
        Yes, it's heartwarming to see that for all its faults, the political establishment is more pragmatic and rational than voters. You can see that in the UK as well, where the idea of renationalising the railways always does well in polls, but none of the major political parties has ever made any serious moves in that direction.
  - eru 4y ago
    > The well-known scarcity of medical supplies during the pandemic is part of the broader trend of neoliberal globalization. I'd put the blame on price controls and other regulation. Remember that for example, early on American authorities went out of their way to ban covid tests.

eru 4y ago

Most other economies don't have the equivalent of the Jones Act. Did they have a worse experience in the pandemic?

photochemsyn 4y ago
Repealing the Jones Act in particular is really about outsourcing the construction of ship-building to places like China and India to get the cheapest labor rates and maximize profits. The well-known scarcity of medical supplies during the pandemic is part of the broader trend of neoliberal globalization. > "Among ocean-going commercial ships, worldwide 2,873 are under construction and China is building 1,291 of them while the U.S. is building only 8 (as tracked by the shipbroker BRS Group). The other leaders are Japan with 697 and South Korea with 475, both also heavily-subsidized, although less than China’s mega-billions. Other nations subsidize the building of commercial ships, including India and France. But the U.S. discontinued its shipbuilding subsidies decades ago." https://townhall.com/columnists/ernestistook/2020/04/23/china-could-gain-the-most-if-the-us-ended-our-jones-act-n2567498 https://townhall.com/columnists/ernestistook/2020/04/23/chin... Note the above article has a kind of 'fear China' theme, but the reality is that the US oligarchs in the shipping industry would be the immediate primary beneficiary, in terms of profit margins and overall labor/material costs. Of course, if the US economy and state goes belly up, they'll run off to hidey holes in New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland or similar.
- JAlexoid 4y ago
  I think you should be banned from using any equipment not entirely made in USA, by US citizens and by a company owned by a US citizen. You know - be the nat-con that you're expressing here
  - photochemsyn 4y ago
    I think the fundamental point here is that neoliberal trade policy is supported by both 'libs' and 'cons', and also that the lib-con distinction is mostly just political posturing over issues whose outcomes have relatively little fundamental economic impacts. An analogy for an American lib vs. con political contest might be the members of a homeowners association getting to vote over what color curtains are allowed. Take NAFTA as a case example - even though noted 'con' Trump campaigned in the Rust Belt on opposition to NAFTA and TPP, with the latter heavily supported by 'lib' Obama, once in office NAFTA was merely renamed the USMCA, and the Rust Belt is as far away from a manufacturing renaissance as it was a decade ago, and the TPP is now being flogged by the 'cons' at the National Review, so.
    - eru 4y ago
      Yes, it's heartwarming to see that for all its faults, the political establishment is more pragmatic and rational than voters. You can see that in the UK as well, where the idea of renationalising the railways always does well in polls, but none of the major political parties has ever made any serious moves in that direction.
- eru 4y ago
  > The well-known scarcity of medical supplies during the pandemic is part of the broader trend of neoliberal globalization. I'd put the blame on price controls and other regulation. Remember that for example, early on American authorities went out of their way to ban covid tests.