From: ttraub@world.std.com (Terry Traub)
Subject: Re: Cash Prizes for Ideas on Saving U.S. Jobs
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 03:19:51 GMT

In article <112@cnmhnet.UUCP> keithg@cnmhnet.UUCP (keith garrard) writes:
>In article <1992Sep23.203652.22217@srg.srg.af.mil> akerson@deimos.srg.af.mil (Pete Akerson - akerson%srg@uunet.uucp) writes:
>>ttraub@world.std.com (Terry Traub) writes :
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>(2) highly tax imported cars, electronic goods, and electronic parts; use
>>that tax revenue as capital to (re?)-invest in those industries.
>
>OK, Let's see who is going to suffer if this is implemented.  I go
>down to the Electronics Superstore to buy a VCR.  Because of this
>additional tax, I now have to pay several dollars more for the VCR, 
>because no American company makes one.  Then, if they do start making
>VCR's, I will have to pay more for them, because the American company
>is not going to price them lower than Japan's VCR's including the tax.
>So I put out several more dollars for the VCR.  I hate to even think
>about buying the car then.  But let's look at it.  We tax the hell out
>of "foreign cars" [by the way, can you define foreign cars nowadays???]
>and who is going to pay for this?  We are!  Let's face it, America can't
>build a car as good as the Germans or the Japanese.  I don't care what
>Iacocca says, dollar for dollar, the japanese have america beat.  In
>quality, the Germans and Japanese have America beat by far.  Why is it
>that foreign cars sell so well?  It isn't only the price.  Have you 
>priced the Honda Civic lately??? It isn't really cheap.  However, even
>though I don't like Hondas personally, I have to admit that the Honda
>Civic is a fairly nice car, although it is overpriced.  Yet, people
>are buying them in droves.  Why?  It is a good car.  So who would
>be hurt by increasing the tax on "foreign" cars?  We would!  By
>the way, what is a foreign car?  Is a foreign car one that has the name
>Toyota on it?  If so, then what about the cars Toyota builds in 
>California and Tennessee?  Are they foreign?  Is the Volkswagen a
>foreign car?  Well yes it is, but does anyone realize how many of
>the parts in a Volkswagen actually come from America? A few years
>ago, over half of the parts in a Volkswagen came from America.  So,
>if we as Americans don't support VW, then we ourselves will be hurt
>by putting more Americans out of work who supply VW with their parts.
>No, I still say that we should let the market decide what is a god
>product and what is not.  Although the phrase "Buy American" is great
>politically, it doesn't hold water when one looks in depth at our
>world based economy.
>--Keith
>

Oh, HELL.  Here we go again; someone doesn't know how to use their
news viewer and attributes a quote wrongly.  I DID NOT say "Buy
American".  Repeat:  I DID NOT SAY BUY AMERICAN!!!!!  Someone else
said that in response to my posting.  Not that it makes any difference
to the discussion but I hate seeing words put into my mouth, especially
when I disagree with them.  Grrr.

I believe that we should in fact lower trade barriers.  The schmuck
who is afraid we're going to "give away" the $20/hour American jobs to
$5/day Mexicans needs to get a brain overhaul.  Those people making
$5/day (probably more, in fact; $5/day is the **minimum** wage in
Mexico) are going to produce products that cost a lot less and so
benefit the American consumer.  So who loses--the millions of
consumers who buy the product?  Surely not.

Protecting US industries doesn't work, as has been shown with the car
and steel industries.  The people running these companies in the U.S.
couldn't produce a quality product if we nuked the rest of the world.
Not if we put a gun to their head.  They're incompetent and deserve to
be Darwinianally selected out of their jobs.  The gentleman who
brought up the example of the minimills was right on the mark.  They
made it by being entrepreneurial and working hard and supplying a
product that the big producers could not or would not provide.  That's
the way the free market is supposed to work, so let's not protect the
idiots and tax the winners--let the idiots lose and let the winners
collect their winnings, and eventually we'll get to prosperity again.

Terry