The China Deal: If You Can't Sell It, Buy It

Max Sawicky sawicky at epinet.org
Tue May 23 10:48:15 PDT 2000


. . .
>Why stop at cross-border transactions? Occupational
>health & safety? Screw it. Reduce prices. . . .

DH: Max, descend from that high horse for just a moment. Breaking unions almost always means wage cutting. Lifting environmental and worker safety regulations is almost always worker-hurting. . . .

[mbs] Not according to Eban Goodstein in a report for EPI.

DH: Not all trade is job-destroying or wage-cutting. EPI & Mark Weisbrot write and talk as if it is. . . .

[mbs] Mebbe yes, mebbe no, but I was responding to your celebration of price decreases' benefits for consumers. To repeat, the logic of that benefit is profoundly anti-worker.

DH: Some trade can be welfare-enhancing for all involved, even.

[mbs] You learn in standardized test-taking that statements like this should always be answered 'true.'

DH: If you're going to analyze the issue completely you've got to acknowledge that, and not take the lazy step of running the trade deficit through some difference engine and coming up with a job-loss number. Or the lazy step of translating any positive statement about trade into an lust for seeing workers mangled. Doug

[mbs] Sometimes the menu is filet mignon, sometimes it's sausage. Depends on who's coming to dinner.

Hi-yo, Silver . . . mbs



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