Why free trade is not always an advantage

Written on February 24th, 2017 in politics Comments Off

… and why protectionism can also mean protection – Published on Current Concerns, by Karl Müller, Feb 21, 2017.

One of the “Establishment’s” “narratives” is that science and reason are on their side and their critics have no real arguments. That the critics are blind to reality and strongly biased by their feelings, seducible by “populists”, by “conspiracy theorists,” and by brokers of “fake news” (especially the Russian government). In particular, criticism of globalisation and its “basic law of the four freedoms” (worldwide unrestricted trade in goods, services and capital, as well as cross-border freedom of movement) is viewed as backward and as completely absurd and inadequate in the light of the present world, at best to be regarded as stemming from the anxieties and moods of so-called “globalisation losers” … //

The second phase of globalisation: … //
Where does reason stand? … //
England profited from protectionism and from free trade: … //
Criticism of David Ricardo: … //
The “specialisation trap”: … //

Sovereignty of the citizens instead of a questionable “business model”:

Up to date, “free trade” is still the “business model” of those who profit from it. But it has never been a matter for the peoples, never a matter for the citizens – even if, for example, a new kind of German “national pride” is to be established over being the “world champion of exports.” There is nothing to be said against trading freely with goods and services, wherever this can be done sustainably, i.e. long-term, taking into account all the values of a citizenry, and serving the common good. But the decision about this belongs with the peoples, and they should make the corresponding agreements.

A “business model” such as the German market, in which about half of the value added is used for the export of goods and services, is highly problematic. This business model is (still) working at the expense of others, but it might soon work very much at the expense of the German citizens (when the target balances can no longer be offset). Let us be honest: the shouts and screams at plans of other countries to take protective measures against a trade that has ruined entire economic sectors, and even economies, is neither honest nor fair.
To the sovereignty of every country it is necessary that the citizens of that country establish a regulatory framework for their national economy. The Swiss economist Peter Ulrich has made this the basis of his economic ethics (“Integrative Wirtschaftsethik. Grundlage einer lebensdienlichen Ökonomie”, 4. Auflage 2008; “Zivilisierte Marktwirtschaft. Eine wirtschafts-ethische Orientierung”, 2010). (“Integrative Economic Ethics, the Basis of an Economy that Serves Life”, 4th Edition, 2008; “A Civilised Market Economy. An Economic-Ethical Orientation”, 2010) This right must be granted to every country – and if a country decides to protect its national economy by means of “protectionism”, then that is its right, as long as it is not again a matter of striving for supremacy … as in 17th century England.

The first and the second phase of globalisation: … //

… (full text).

Links:

Indonesia’s four richest men worth as much as poorest 100 million, on The Guarian, by Rupdert Neate, Feb 23, 2017: Oxfam warns that inequality personified by clove cigarette tycoons Budi and Michael Hartono will damage the nation’s economy;

‘It’s no paradise: Switzerland funds Nigerian TV series to discourage migrants from coming, on RT, Feb 22, 2017: Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is spending $450,000 on filming a TV series with African actors showing the perils of living in Europe illegally, which will be shown on Nigerian television. We have seen that a lack of information or false information is one of the main problems that leads to illegal migration,” SEM spokesman Lukas Rieder told The Local. “Human traffickers tell potential migrants that Switzerland is paradise, it’s El Dorado. But that’s not true. We want to provide objective information about the dangers of passage, and the dangers of living in Switzerland without a permit, for example …;
(See also: Smugglers lie, No asylum, Austrian govt buys up billboards in Afghanistan, on RT, March 3, 2016);

Glory Hole: California storms see return of bizarre lake phenomenon (VIDEO), on RT, Feb 22, 2017;
(also a video on YouTube: Overflowing Glory Hole Spillway at Lake Berryessa 2017, 0.48 min; see also the construction on Google Images-search, and specially on this website);

Reclaiming Holloway Homes, on RedPepper.org.uk, by Rebecca Roberts, Feb 21, 2017: the government is closing old, inner-city jails, what happens next? As 2016 drew to a close, activists and former prisoners gathered outside prisons across the country in lively ‘noise demonstrations’. From Manchester to London, protesters armed with drums, sound systems and banners gathered at prison gates in solidarity with prisoners and to rally against the injustices of imprisonment. At the same time as these annual noise protests, something very different was happening at the site of the recently-closed Holloway women’s prison in north London …;

(Marine Le Pen:

… and this:

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