2 ms·
Free Trade is something that powerful nations impose on less powerful nations. Anything else is just ideological bullshit. EDIT: I understand that free trade t
by elzbardico 3y ago
Free Trade is something that powerful nations impose on less powerful nations. Anything else is just ideological bullshit.
EDIT: I understand that free trade theoretically could be a win-win game. But the real world is a lot more complicated, and is a historical fact that developed nations always have and continue to push for less powerful nations to open their markets while abusing of protectionist practices themselves.
- rwmj 3y agoHow do you account for Singapore?
- dontlaugh 3y agoSingapore has significant central planning as part of its economy and also does some protectionism. It's also an important US proxy in the region. Not unlike South Korea in both respects.
- elzbardico 3y agoSingapore economy is a result of foreign investment aided by very generous tax benefits and a repressive regime that ensured for a long time a low paid and compliant work-force. Being also basically a city-state without natural resources, Singapore was always trade-oriented and as a commercial hub of course it is in an extraordinary position to engage in free-trade. But believing that the same recipe could be applied for Argentina, South-Africa or Brasil takes a lot more faith But what is funny about the Singapore example always abused on those conversations is that it begs the question of why people always cite a more or less tiny Asian city-state as the most prominent case of the success of free-trade instead of bigger economies like the US, China, Japan, South Korea or the UE. And the reason for that is that all those nations have always engaged and still engage on protectionist practices while expecting less developed markets to open their borders. Subsides, Non-Tax Barriers, Direct government investments, taxes and fees, you name it, they did and they do it.
- csomar 3y agoSingapore is a tiny city-state and its model can't scale for large nations.
- scythe 3y agoSingapore overlooks the strait of Malacca, the key gateway by sea between India and China. It has been a strategic trading port for centuries. The cost of shipping goods there is correspondingly low — ships go there anyway. Consequently, it has always had a culture and economy that was prepared to take advantage of our high-trade global economy. Being the Switzerland of Asia doesn't hurt either. Panama is the logical point of comparison — its governance has been consistently atrocious (cf. Noriega), but it nonetheless remains among the front of the pack in Latin America economically.
- esotericimpl 3y ago[dead]
- Barrin92 3y agoThen why does the Jones act exist and why is the US curtailing chip exports to China, and why does Mercosur want a trade deal with Europe? No, free trade is mutually beneficial and the natural state of things, protection exists for two reasons. Pursuit of military interests (blockades) or satisfying domestic rent seekers. (e.g. the shipping industry, farmers etc.)
- jryle70 3y agoThat's a very narrow minded view. China is number one counterpoint. Without free trade, and very favorable terms that Western countries offered, China wouldn't become the superpower it is today. The tension between US and China today has more to do with geopolitics than protectionism. Read the following (from 1984) to understand how Deng Xiao Peng saw the roles of Special Economic Zone in the revival of China's economy: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/deng-xiaoping/1984/21.htm https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/deng-xiaoping/198...