tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159940891304769746.post6203057682213843095..comments2023-10-15T05:50:08.034-07:00Comments on Liberty Forum of Fordham University: An Opportunity for "Fundamental Change"Liberty Forum of Fordham Universityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08550496415350992807noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159940891304769746.post-10340428736557195432008-11-16T12:43:00.000-08:002008-11-16T12:43:00.000-08:00Let me also make it clear that I am a total and co...Let me also make it clear that I am a total and complete supporter of free trade. I admire Pat Buchanan for some of his positions, but strongly disagree with his ideas on trade. Free trade betters every consumer because it increases goods quality and decreases price. If it so happens that the United States can not compete with the Japanese in automobile production, either because of quality of cars or economies of scale, then so be it. Trade and specialization is best for all.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08147158961076788618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159940891304769746.post-28973727526479162292008-11-13T10:27:00.000-08:002008-11-13T10:27:00.000-08:00I am against bailing out the auto industry as well...I am against bailing out the auto industry as well. But make no mistake it is in now way a good thing. Any capital that is reposessed in the event of a Big Three bankruptcy will just be sent to Asia. There will be no new American growth to be found from this, no new jobs no positive impact in the long run. Free trade has desroyed significant parts of American Manufacturing. As Pat Buchanan recently said. "great nations do not have trade partners, only competitors."DSKohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072863380215352519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159940891304769746.post-15120214544838141782008-11-12T06:25:00.000-08:002008-11-12T06:25:00.000-08:00Well I should probably have made it clear in the p...Well I should probably have made it clear in the post itself, I am in no way in favor of a bailout for the American automakers. But, I do realize that given political pressures such bailout will eventually happen, so I hope that it includes a destruction of those poor labor contracts because that will at least ensure these companies succeed and we, the taxpayers, get our money back. Personally, however, I think it would be best to simply let these companies go under and allow them to restructure that way. Yes, it will cost the jobs of thousands of Americans, but in the long-run, these jobs will be back and without the ridiculous labor contracts even more jobs could be created.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08147158961076788618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159940891304769746.post-24085188051982853592008-11-11T14:13:00.000-08:002008-11-11T14:13:00.000-08:00I completely agree. If, in the end, the government...I completely agree. If, in the end, the government bails out the 'Big Three,' it may, in principle not be as against our traditions as it may seem because most of it was not caused by bad business practice but by government protection of labor unions. There are two automobile industries in America. The first is the Detroit industry which is considered the icon of America's former industrial might. But there is another, in the South. Almost all foreign car manufacturers that sell in the United States have factories spread throughout the southern states where they do not have to worry about labor unions. Any BMW you buy in America is produced in Alabama. Toyota, Honda and many other foreign car manufacturers produce in the south. This is not a bailout in the sense that Paulson's was, this would be a rectification of poor government policy that was sympathetic to mafia backed labor unions.DSKohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072863380215352519noreply@blogger.com