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Technology Stocks : Disk Drive Sector Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Z Analyzer who wrote (5580)	2/16/1999 10:32:00 AM
From: Stitch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Z, I almost hesitate to jump into this one but here is just another view. You said: <<I believe that imported goods should be tarriffed at a rate wich brings trade into balance. >>. But it just doesn't make a lot of sense. All you have to do is visit any country outside of the states to understand the disparity in consumption that exists. So how do you balance trade with tariffs that end up shutting down factories in Asia which in turn lowers consumption even more? Talk about spirals. Funny that we are talking about this. The DD industry is probably the most globalized there is and it is still dominated largely by American firms. Best, Stitch

To: Z Analyzer who wrote (5580)	2/16/1999 11:04:00 AM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

More on free trade: I tend to agree with Z in the abstract, but several things aren't clear: why, for instance, would we "have likely permanently lost the production" if the goods are no longer "bargains"? Why wouldn't factories spring up in this country, if it becomes economically feasible? Also, how would tariffs be structured to produce a "rate which brings trade into balance"? What tariffs would do that, what goods would be subject to it? Would TVs? Clothes? Appliances? Hard drives (had to get that one in)? How many of those things are produced here now? Would consumers just get hurt by paying higher prices? However, the danger of perpetuating endlessly the one way "trade" (our money for their goods) is that our own market gets eroded, then destroyed as we beggar ourselves. If other markets aren't being built up through higher wages for workers moving into middle class status, then the one way trade will end as the goose with the golden egg dies. What will be left? A few extremely wealthy people, a mass of poorer people, a small middle class that manages to service the rich. That at least is the fear (my fear, anyway), which I don't see how Krugman addressed. On the other hand, imposing tariffs in this country won't really address that problem, the governments of the manufacturing countries have to address it. But the fact that they don't appear to address this issue is what leads to the fear that the middle class of this country is in danger, and leads to calls for tariffs. And which is, to my mind at least, the real reason why many of us resist the idea of free trade.

To: Z Analyzer who wrote (5580)	2/16/1999 11:58:00 AM
From: graybeard	Respond to of 9256

Z, Japan is a special case. They are xenophobic but their distrust is based largely on contempt, not fear. Even their Co-Prosperity Sphere rhetoric in WW ll was predicated on the premise that Nippon was to be King of the Hill. Many fellow Asians remain suspicious of Japan's motives and modus operandi. How can they forget the Rape of Nanking, The destruction of Manila even after it was declared an open city, the Korean women forced into prostitution, or the ritual beheading of prisoners? By the way, the prostitution scheme was initiated after the Rape of Nanking. Not due to shame and world condemnation, but because unbridled lust lessened their soldier's combat efficiency. The Japanese are not inscrutable in my view. What they respect and admire most is dedication, discipline, individual sacrifice, and most of all, power. This explains their docility and the end of the war and their subsequent deification of General MacArthur. The Bushido Code thrives whether it be in war or business. To expect them to play by our rules or to adhere to some ragged western economic theorems is ludicrous. gb