Is the USD at a crossroads?

myp · Mar 21, 2011

DodgeFB said:
And I don't see any legitimate reason for why you love globalization. We just see things differently. And yes they can pick up their ball and go make their crap somewhere else. But we can nail them when they want to ship back in to sell here.

Well I mentioned the decreased costs for consumers, greater choice for consumers, great overall world production of goods which increases quality of life on Earth as a whole, increased costs of war, etc.

The problem with saying they can leave, but we'll tack them with high costs is that our consumers then suffer too- we can no longer have access to all of the great things we get from abroad because we don't have the resources to make everything here (as no nation does within their own borders). You essentially thrust us way back in the ages (that is even before your generation as you too have lived most if not all of your life in a time when we conducted significant global trade) when we only have what is made in the US. Doesn't sound bad on paper as it worked for us the last time, but then you remember that that time everyone else was pretty much the same way. In today's world should we be like that, we would quickly fall behind as the rest of the world trades and learns from each other, fostering greater growth everyone outside our little bubble.

DodgeFB said:
But I admit it does not make any difference what I think. Who am I to have an opinion about anything. My time has come and gone. So I really don't know why I care anyway. I need to work on not caring so much about stuff that is none of my business.

Personally I believe apathy is worse than caring, regardless of what your views are. Don't beat yourself up over an opinion or over my opinion; in the end the world keeps turning.

edit: I think China and India up until about 1990 are great examples of what happens with that sort of protectionism in today's world. It simply does not work and hurts the people.

dave · Mar 22, 2011

myp said:
From your statements I don't see any legitimate reason for why you hate globalization other than you know you hate it. You say we will never understand your generation and in some areas I think no generation understands another, but when it comes to something like this I just don't see any valid point against globalization.

One of the points I have not mentioned yet that is also positive is the so-called theory of the golden arches, which describes how no 2 nations with a McDonald's have ever gone to war. Intertwined trade reduces the likelihood of war as the costs of war rise with it.

But all nations use money and no nation has all of the resources/goods it wants within its borders. That allows for trade of goods for money and then the use of that money elsewhere.

We don't intentionally export any jobs. Our policies just increase barriers to entry and costs here and that drives the jobs away. Even if we were fully isolationist, no corporation in todays age would be stopped from simply picking up and going elsewhere even if it meant leaving the US altogether in exchange for greater profits.

Its a matter of degree. Global trade has benefits such as allowing efficient utilization of resources. A surplus in one area can be used to solve a deficit in another. Problems arise when the need for trade becomes unbalanced and that gives one nation power over another. The US needs oil from Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia does not need really anything from the US, and that gives Saudi Arabia a lot of power to influence US economic and political decisions.

We do intentionally export jobs, particularly jobs that require little skill or training. Even if the US had no economic barriers, there will still be a disparity in wage rates. Some industries paying $15 an hour in the US cannot compete with $1 an hour wage rates in some other countries.

Its not only about economics. Economics is and always has been an arena for global conflict. As long as some nations want to dominate their neighbors or the world, or simply influence their neighbors and trade partners, economics will a battleground.

Is the USD at a crossroads?

myp

dave

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