World Trade - May It Rest In Peace, and Hopefully Come Back From the Dead Soon

www.foreignaffairs.org/20090101faessay88102/aaditya-mattoo-arvind-subramanian/from-doha-to-the-next-bretton-woods.html

As some of you may know, I love economics and foreign affairs. That, I know, has created some great conversations with some of you, and really boring for others depending on the your wherewithal for such topics.

It is something I love, so I will share it with everyone, and if you don't like it, feel free to click on other pieces of my blog that are more interesting to you. (In fact, if you have requests, let me know - If I am anything, I am flexible about what I report on)

Attached is only the introduction of an article about free trade and the slow painful death it has been having for 10 years with the Doha Round of multilateral negotiations amongst countries.

I am not allowed to post it, but if it strikes your fancy, send me an email and I can email it to you.

Anyhow, here are my economic ramblings -
A. It is such a shame that free trade seems to be falling apart. While there are winners and losers in free trade that must be addressed, it is really sad that the world has gotten to such a bad place that it looks like protectionists will win. The world is a better place with free flow of information and products and capital - it allows for true competition. I saw this in Brazil first hand. Their goods are protected by a long standing "import substitution" regime, and their goods are therefore crap quality and expensive. For better or for worse, free trade makes products better and cheaper. I am not saying everyone should buy everything and consumerism is an issue - but deal with that, not the products themselves.

B. Disengaging right now hurts everyone and is a band-aid instead of the heart surgery that the world needs - or better yet - Disengaging is like not going to exercise, and then complaining you have back pain. The better option is to engage and work on that muscle.

C. Sadly, the US needs to buck the heck up and see increased competition as a good thing. It makes us stronger and focus on what we do best - which is thinking and coming up with new ideas. India is a real challenge for us - they speak English, they are entrepreneurial, they go to college and they work for less money than we do. This should be embraced, and not seen with fear. I understand it can look like a threat, but we need to get our thinking caps on a define real advantage and look for new opportunities where we shine. And I am optimistic about what we can do in problematic times.

D. The car industry - this is partially a trade issue. The US car manufacturers suck at what they do, they don't understand market trends, they are expensive and bad quality relative to other manufacturers. We should not bail out this industry! If you are concerned about the employees that do a real subsidy of the real problem. I would rather take the multi-billions of dollars and hand every employee a check to either retire or get their college degree - again, let's deal with the problem.

Anyhow, enough for now - you will see me on this topic often, and if you disagree, I love to engage on these topics and learn new things - so please email me or leave a post.