Thom Hartmann - How do we stop China from continuing to eat our lunch?

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 09:26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbHKdm7I-b4   Posted on YouTube: March 23, 2010 By YouTube Member: thomhartmann Views on YouTube: 5   Posted on DU: March 23, 2010 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 684

 
The Thom Hartmann Program can be heard daily M-F 12-3pm ET. Visit www.thomhartmann.com to listen live, join the community or purchase a podcast.

[CHelms]

1. How do we stop it?

We could stop sending our manufacturing base to them, and Mexico. That would be a nice start. We spend half our time farming good paying jobs out to 3rd world countries and the other half wondering why Americans can't afford new houses and cars any more.

[Joanne98]

2. Stop giving companies tax cuts for moving there!

[jody]

3. Only one way, pass balanced budgets at all levels of government and start reducing debt. n/t

[florida08]

4. of course a communist country

would artificially keep their currency low. We knew that when the cheap globalists here started outsourcing American jobs to exploit the cheap labor there and their people. That's not the problem. While I agree there should be tariffs on imports, which they won't do anyway, they would merely pass it on to the consumer in higher prices. Stop giving subsidies to these people. Start regulating the amount of imports coming in. The trade deficit right now is about 20 billion. Why are we putting up with this? Their exports jumped 46% last month their imports rose as well. The projection of their growth of GDP is 9.5% this year and forecasts to overtake Japan as number 2 economy. China does not want to raise it's imports..it's a COMMUNIST government.

We do have China by the horns. The US dollar is still the best investment especially right now. China only holds about 10% of American debt. Little leverage in manipulation. The problem is America's debt/GDP ratio. The IMF as issued warnings that maintaining national debts will hamper economic growth.

"Mr Lipsky cited evidence that all G7 countries except Germany and Canada will have debt-to-GDP ratios close to or in excess of 100% by 2014...However, what the IMF terms the "emerging Asia" region – including China and India - will grow at more than twice the pace, with an economic growth rate of 8.25pc estimated in the current year.

The answer is not more exports to China.

http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/beckerposner/2010/02/should-the-government-try-to-stimulate-us-exports-becker.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/7500211/IMF-warns-of-acute-debt-challenges-for-West.html

[Overseas]

5. K&R. I do hope we reexamine "free" trade.

Tariffs and trade negotiations may have been cumbersome, but countries are better able to protect themselves and their workers.

But they impeded the flow of multinational corporate quarterly profits so the USA obeyed and got rid of as many "trade barriers" (worker & local economic protections) as possible.

But in an era of dwindling natural resources and more problematic global pollution, slowing down industrial mass production may be helpful.

We also still don't have a very comprehensive cost of goods-- off-shoring production has allowed manufacturers to exclude pollution control and worker protections from their bottom lines to a large extent.

And we don't factor in the cost of our massive unemployment and blighted former manufacturing sites in the USA.

We all fell for the "don't wanna be protectionist," gotta have "free trade," dogma because protecting our workers and manufacturing base was presented as extreme communist totalitarian control-- as if there were no shades of gray, no degrees to government intervention and no value to protecting our domestic quality of life for the long term. Any government directed protection was Demon Commie. Slippery socialist slope. And we had some fancy PR from other angles implying that protectionists were hopelessly old fashioned and just didn't understand the modern global economy.

Unless it was promoted by powerful private multinational corporations.

Yet somehow making war to protect our interests was less disturbing. Although it required consolidation of a lot of our mass media into conservative hands to pump up the false pretenses to get it going and keep it going. My naive green dream includes reassessing national security to devise more sustainable ways of promoting our interests in an era of dwindling natural resources and global pollution.

Let's hope exposing the cruelty of GOP demonization of any government assistance to our people like basic health care assistance will force our Democratic legislators to recognize why millions of voters chose a Democratic president and legislature-- we know there is a role for good government and want to see it restored. We know there is a large range between freedom for the richest to rule and communist totalitarianism. We wanted some balance restored to our government-- some basic compassion like national health security.

[florida08]

6. This will make you dizzy

http://www.usdebtclock.org/