For those of you who desire government centrally controlled economies

[Lost Student]

Originally Posted by ChinoCoug

Lost:

higher. you said yourself that we will gain from trade, and that both sides will benefit. how can our standard of living get lower?

you can't "average out" when both sides are going up.

trade will definitely affect the distribution of wealth in the US. due to globalization, median wages have remained stagnant while major gains have been made at the top.

I guess I see a point eventually where the gains are being made by so few at the top compared with the rest of the country that the middle class is essentially wiped out.

Let me reiterate though: I beleive that a free market, with as little government intervention as possible, is best. It's just that I see a point of diminishing returns for the "common man." Again, where that point is, I do not know.

[Lost Student]

Originally Posted by Colly Wolly

Barbara, the other countries are giving their kids steroids. It's bad for them in the long run. Don't insist our kids take them too.

LOL. You're really taking the football team metaphor a long ways.

[ChinoCoug]

Originally Posted by Lost Student

I guess I see a point eventually where the gains are being made by so few at the top compared with the rest of the country that the middle class is essentially wiped out.

Let me reiterate though: I beleive that a free market, with as little government intervention as possible, is best. It's just that I see a point of diminishing returns for the "common man." Again, where that point is, I do not know.

google "stolper-samuelson theorem"

[BarbaraGordon]

Originally Posted by ChinoCoug

explain to me how our standard of living gets lower when productivity is higher.

How does standard of living NOT decrease when we're competing with societies that happily accept 1/10 of what American workers are accustomed to?

[ChinoCoug]

Originally Posted by BarbaraGordon

How does standard of living NOT decrease when we're competing with societies that happily accept 1/10 of what American workers are accustomed to?

cheaper goods-->we can buy more with our money-->we're richer

john edwards' idiotic speech about the the poor girl who couldn't afford a winter coat, when you can buy one at Walmart for $10 thanks to free trade.

[SoonerCoug]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Markets need to run freely in a manner most efficient.

Monopolies are not efficient and must therefore be opposed. Monopolies act therefore like governments, sluggish, bloated and inefficient.

Around the fringes some minimal regulation is needed. And society demands certain minimum safety nets.

But the best regulator of the markets are the money supplies.

I openly admit that I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I still like to argue about economics.

[Colly Wolly]

Ask France how those 30 hour work weeks are going.

[ChinoCoug]

Originally Posted by Colly Wolly

Ask France how those 30 hour work weeks are going.

you and lost are cracking me up. you with your analogy, Lost with his avatar.

[ChinoCoug]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Markets need to run freely in a manner most efficient.

What if the market won't run at all?

But the best regulator of the markets are the money supplies.

never heard that b4, maybe you can give me examples.

[BarbaraGordon]

Originally Posted by Lost

I guess I see a point eventually where the gains are being made by so few at the top compared with the rest of the country that the middle class is essentially wiped out.

Let me reiterate though: I beleive that a free market, with as little government intervention as possible, is best. It's just that I see a point of diminishing returns for the "common man." Again, where that point is, I do not know.

This is EXACTLY what I'm trying to say.

Originally Posted by ChinoCoug

cheaper goods-->we can buy more with our money-->we're richer

I'm aware of the argument.

I disagree. Ask a Wal-Mart employee where the obsession with cheap goods has gotten us. It's created a standard of non-living wages for a huge section of the American workforce. They can't even afford the "cheap" goods.

All the cheap goods market has done is enable the Chinese to buy a whole hell of a lot of oil, increasing costs for us across the board.