tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11148260.post115389124474474479..comments2023-09-06T08:56:14.610-04:00Comments on Eidelblog: A lot of things are worth paying others to doUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11148260.post-1153973737284222132006-07-27T00:15:00.000-04:002006-07-27T00:15:00.000-04:00There's actually no need for anyone to be a critic...There's actually no need for anyone to be a critic or an apologist, since calling trade deficits "good" or "bad" implies a value judgment. Trade and current account deficits simply are, and even their underlying causes may not necessarily be describable as "good" or "bad."<BR/><BR/>The vast majority of the U.S. trade deficit with the rest of the world doesn't come from our artificially higher employment costs. It's primarily the difference between capital-rich and labor-rich nations, whose distinctions are sharpened by higher capital mobility. Some complain that improved capital mobility hurts our domestic industries, but in fact it allows us to focus on our own capital-rich industries.<BR/><BR/>For the portion that does result from shooting ourselves in the foot with regulation, it's easier to outsource than to fix our own internal structure. The alternative is to waste our efforts repealing this and that, which, barring a revolution like what started in 1775, will never happen in your or my lifetime. And like any good, competitive business would do, American companies choose the best route for profit. Oddly enough, it's also the best route for the consumer.<BR/><BR/>Textiles, plastics and mass-produced electronics will probably never come back, and that's fine. Americans are more than capable of producing far more advanced items than cotton T-shirts, bolts and toys. For the same reason, I <I>don't</I> want a lot of tech jobs to return from India. Most of them are so low-grade that American programmers ought to want to be more than basic code jockeys. Besides, you're not going to get an American company to hire a domestic programmer, no matter how low we can get our regulations, to compete with someone in Bangaloore who'll work for $10,000 a year with no benefits.Perry Eidelbushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09707615907666584863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11148260.post-1153967499828266332006-07-26T22:31:00.000-04:002006-07-26T22:31:00.000-04:00I completely agree.But there's one thing I always ...I completely agree.<BR/><BR/>But there's one thing I always like to point out when people bring up this point. It's true that running a trade deficit is not inherently a bad thing. But too many people use that as an apology for a trade deficit, without similarly pointing out that our own policies make our products less competitive on a global market.<BR/><BR/>Fixing the problems of high taxes and high regulation certainly won't bring the textile markets back from China, but it just might bring back some of the tech support jobs from India. Outsourcing and trade deficits aren't necessarily bad, but just like the broken window fallacy, if our own fiscal policies are causing those things to happen, it's not a good thing. Outsourcing and trade deficits are problematic in that they highlight anti-competitive tax and regulatory practices by the US.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com