> First, we are getting ripped off in global trade.
So Americans buying whatever stuff they want is getting "ripped off"?
> We could tax the rich more, but the world learned in the post WW2 era that doesn't work very well.
??? The post-WW2 years were some of the most prosperous in the US, and the high tax rates did not hinder that. When Clinton raised rates in the 1990s there were predictions of 'collapse', but things continue chugging along. Inequality decreased during the post-WW2 years up to Reagan.
> So the short answer is that tariffs are a pretty efficient tax.
Not sure how accurate this is, but they're certainly regressive. And if folks have a finite income, and prices go up so each unit purchased is more expensive, then logically won't that mean fewer units will be purchased/produced? If fewer units are produced then fewer workers are needed, so layoffs may be more likely.
Yeah:
> First, we are getting ripped off in global trade.
So Americans buying whatever stuff they want is getting "ripped off"?
> We could tax the rich more, but the world learned in the post WW2 era that doesn't work very well.
??? The post-WW2 years were some of the most prosperous in the US, and the high tax rates did not hinder that. When Clinton raised rates in the 1990s there were predictions of 'collapse', but things continue chugging along. Inequality decreased during the post-WW2 years up to Reagan.
> So the short answer is that tariffs are a pretty efficient tax.
Not sure how accurate this is, but they're certainly regressive. And if folks have a finite income, and prices go up so each unit purchased is more expensive, then logically won't that mean fewer units will be purchased/produced? If fewer units are produced then fewer workers are needed, so layoffs may be more likely.