Carrier stays in US

[John V]

Here we are at T -45 days or so and the right is already cheering the perversion of those free markets they claim to love.

I'm more center than right, but here's my take on free markets, tariffs, etc.

In school they teach you that everyone's better off if goods and services are produced by the countries best suited to do so.

So, traditional manufacturing should shift to countries with lower wages, and the U.S. should educate its populace for higher-tech jobs. That way everyone maximizes their earnings, and prices are at their lowest.

The problem is that you can't educate everyone in America for higher-tech jobs. Performance at those jobs isn't just a function of education, it also requires some amount of innate intelligence. There are people with adequate intelligence for manufacturing jobs, but not for higher-tech jobs. We're getting to be a white collar/hamburger flipper economy without a great middle grouond.

If we use tariffs and other measures to keep manufacturing jobs in the U.S., we keep that middle ground. The cost is that we're all paying more for those manufactured products. In effect you end up with:

- wealth redistribution, which liberals like
- but done without outright handouts to individuals, so it's palatable to conservatives

Trump is trying to achieve center/liberal goals in a way that's acceptable to conservatives.

Those of you old enough to recall Clinton know that he pandered to the left, but in reality was more center, and sometimes right of center (as with free trade).

Try to stop hating and just wait and see what he does.