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blue bits. red rocks.
Tuesday 12 January 2010

When Ronald Reagan took office we had a trade surplus with China - we exported to China more than we imported from China. But the conservative “free market” ideologues said that “the market” must determine everything instead of the people in our democracy, that government is bad, that “free trade” lifts all boats, etc. — even though there is no such thing as “free” trade or “free” markets… They negotiated trade agreements guaranteed to give away our strong trade position, stopped enforcing old or new trade laws, and got rid of any idea of having a national industrial policy. By the time Bill Clinton took office instead of a trade surplus we had a trade deficit with China of almost $23 billion - importing from China much, much more than we exported to them. Under President Clinton, influenced by conservative “free trade” arguments, this trade deficit grew to $83 billion. Then, under George W. Bush this trade deficit grew to $268 billion in a single year! Time after time Bush refused to enforce trade agreements and the imbalance just got worse and worse. Right Wing Catches On That Conservative Trade Policies Hurt Us

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