Sunday, June 26, 2016

Against both Trump and Sanders

I don't understand why Donald Trump is vilified when he says he wants to put a wall up to keep Mexican workers out, but Bernie Sanders is lionized when he criticizes NAFTA for sending American jobs to Mexico. They are both saying essentially the same thing, namely, that free trade is bad, protectionism is good, and American jobs should be reserved for Americans.

I disagree with both of them. I do not believe in privileging American workers simply because they are Americans. If American workers can't compete in the global marketplace, they deserve to lose their jobs. Jobs should go where it makes the most economic sense for businesses to locate them. If a young Mexican (or Indian or Chinese) female can do the same job as an old white American male for less money, then, that job should go to Mexico (or India or China).

See here for more about the interesting (and disconcerting) similarities between Trump and Sanders (and, as it turns out, the Brexiters). The article at this link also provides additional links to other articles by various writers at the Foundation for Economic Education, a free-market think tank. These additional articles also make persuasive arguments that Trump and Sanders and the Brexiters are all reading from the same protectionist and xenophobic script.

Note: No, this does not mean I support Hillary.

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