Apparently economic powerhouses like Germany and Japan didn't get the memo on what the 99% of economists think because they have protectionist policies with the US.



https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/05/trumps-tariff-threat-on-european-cars-could-spell-big-trouble-for-germany.html

Two things might come out of this. Either BMW & others will start building their factories in the US or that 10% is going to drop, both are good for us. Your graphs don't prove shit, consumers will always benefit from free trade this is news to no one.

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Mar 6 2018 06:41pm

Of course this doesn't mean free trade is always good, just that it is mostly good.



I just want to know if these arguments are backed up by anyone serious. I listen to Laura Ingraham complain about free trade all the time, but I'm interested in what educated people think.

This post was edited by IceMage on Mar 6 2018 06:46pm

Apparently they didn't.

Not sure what point you're making.

This post was edited by Voyaging on Mar 6 2018 06:45pm

If he went the other way and freed up trade with all parties involved instead of adding tariffs and you would be praising and selling the move with the same energy and vigor.

Point is we don't actually have free trade and the Trump proposed tariffs would just be balancing an inequality.



I'm actually for free trade, actual free trade, not this bullshit you call free trade in which our companies face tariffs in their markets meanwhile their companies don't

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Mar 6 2018 06:52pm

why are you explaining this to commie there is no trade in his view of how things should be. for him, the state distributes out to the individual what he requires according to his needs.

And the orthodox opinion of 'mainstream' economists is to always err on the side of free trade. Pegging them to any examples of any actual, not theoretical, advocacy of anti-free trade measures would be like pulling teeth



The public doesn't just sway in the wind between one day and the next. Change comes gradually if it comes at all, and people who embraced a populist message of anti-free trade in 2016 are still going to be around in 2020, its just not realistic to assume a dramatic shift in 4 years. Obama fed the sentiments in 2008 and 2012 and the republicans accused him of class warfare, yet the movement got strong enough to propel Bernie and Trump to the front, strong enough to elect Trump, I don't think we can discount that by saying americans are fickle and ignorant and will just believe whatever the next guy tells them.

If only the one percent would just stop making all of these incredibly cheap and convenient products and let us starve and die on our own from crop famines like in the good old days.

The Democrats don't need a dramatic shift. They had a shit candidate without a message in 2016, and she barely lost. Trump's populism is right-wing... as in, cut the taxes of the guys screwing you, put tariffs on some of their business, and cut programs which benefit lower and middle income voters. Left-wing populism is the only sustainable version. Whoever wins the Democratic primary is going to incorporate enough of that into their message to win.

Plus, I don't see Trump adding any new voters. His approval rating isn't a mirage, people don't like him, and it's not just because he cuts taxes. He acts like a douchebag, and while you think of it as refreshing, most people don't.

"Sustainable" in that the populists were left-wing. It works for Trump because he's stealing a whole chunk of blue voters away. Whoever wins the democratic primary is going to have to try to reclaim the defectors as well as hold together a fractious party who regards any attempts to appeal to the white working class as nazism. Just dismissing Hillary as a fluke and assuming everything will go right again- that was the kind of arrogance that led to her failure in the first place.



If his approval rating wasn't a mirage, he wouldn't be president. Where is Pollster now?
The absolute values are useless. You can read into whether the numbers are going up or down, and the relative change is a useful metric, and it has shown Trump is likely adding new voters with a small, steady upward tick.

And if you think him being a douchebag was a problem, I guarantee you that the majority of people who voted for him agreed, and didn't care.