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Originally Posted by OsmundL
Which is when I thought of something…
I wonder if Americans have come to misunderstand the system they have created? For all the talk, it seems to me that both Republicans and Democrats promote a system that is anti-market.
I am often surprised at the Democrats’ readiness to grant benefits without the necessary counterbalances to prevent abuse, and at the Republicans’ never-ending pork barreling for industry sectors.
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Welcome to the party.
Encourage people to come join us for a day of protests on the 4th of July, guaranteed to irritate both Democrats and Republicans. Rumor has it there are going to be a LOT MORE anti-Republican signs this time around to help disassociate the tea party protesters from the Republican party. Republican leaders have not been allowed to speak at the podium, and that is not going to change, we are simply not interested in what Republicans have to say anymore, they have failed us, and Democrats have failed us too.
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Over the years, we have observed subsidies or market protection for the steel industry, the vehicle industry, wheat, beef exports – the list is a whole lot longer. Even development aid is a local industry affair neatly disguised as “bilateral aid”: I recall the Tanzanian minister telling us how they took millions from the USA only on condition they spend it on Ford tractors, “which we have no facilities for repairing or fuelling, so they rust away.”
As for Democrats, they are even more protectionist. Common to both seems to be a view that American industry cannot compete without a leg-up.
So, it hardly surprises that GM is such a hornet’s nest. The government in this “free market” economy would still like to help the workers, the bond holders, the lenders, and of course the auto industry. Where in all this did “free market” enter the equation? Absent is the cut and dried view both you and PZbeer (and I) have of a failing company: that it ought to fail, it is meant to, and someone will suffer.
The one country in EU that attempted a protective measure during this crisis was France, wanting to give money to Peugot on condition it went only to factories in France. The French got a lot of pepper for it – this is simply not the accepted way of doing things. I see the current US administration toying with a concept of “Buy American” – and we don’t hear an awful lot of angry voices over that. Do you or don’t you want a free market?
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OsmundL, thank you for your interesting post. We have had a lot of debate about protectionism over on the market thread, I could dig up some of the more lively and interesting posts if you are interested in reading them. This has been a concern of a lot of us especially since this financial crisis got into full swing, because everywhere you turn people are putting protections in place which harms all of us. In the United States right now there is an increasing uproar by people everywhere (populist uproar) about contracts being funded by the tax payer that end up helping foreign companies, and those voices are starting to get what they want, they are starting to get assurances that only U.S. companies can benefit from this or that, and that Canada (the main party in the debate) can go to hell. Of course, Canada has turned right around and put restrictions on some of its own projects which has harmed U.S. companies in the north as a result.
One of the leading causes of Great Depression 1 was protectionism. As things got worse countries put up trade barriers and caused all sorts of problems around the world, it became competitive, populist voices came out in droves demanding that countries protect this industry or that, and we ended up in terrible shape as a result. I think we are headed in that direction again, when people are afraid they do whatever they can to protect themselves in very selfish ways, they pull back and hide, and I think we are starting to see the ugliness of protectionism again and that it is only going to get worse.