Nelson's Diner, a view from elsewhere...

[Colonel Nikolai]

Except that the price of durable goods are pretty much fixed worldwide. A cheap, new 150cc motorbike is about 2500 bucks or 115,000 Rupees or 17,000 Yuan. No matter where you live. And the Chinese buying US treasuries means that they're _financing_ our debt not paying it, last I checked?

There are some benefits to buying the best value regardless, as you theoretically spur the best producer, no matter what the nationality. But this has rarely worked out straightforwardly in the past. When you outsource the making of the product somewhere else, soon you outsource the know-how of making and designing it, too. We've already seen major sectors of the US economy follow on with relocating the R&D after outsourcing the manufacturing overseas. All fine and dandy when it's salad-shooters and cutlery. Problematic when nobody here knows how to make a car, microchip or a rocket anymore. Then all you have left is "rent-seeking" activity like patent trolling, financial chicanery and political string-pulling.

Ooops. Too late.

[oxnsox]

Can't agree Nic.
You're letting someone else do what they do best to allow you to do what you do best... innovate

And whilst they're focused on making cheaper grape peelers you're designing something better.

There will always be competition between companies and countries to make things cheaper.. but you shouldn't restrict competitiveness thru regulations and subsidies, all you doing then is stiffling innovation

[Colonel Nikolai]

Well it certainly sounds like a good version of the story. And some economists would agree with you. Some would not, however. Those economists cite history which shows that developed nations historically heavily protected certain sectors to foster innovation on their own shores. Most economies have import quotas on certain key goods. Even the US. If that weren't true my Toyota would never have been built in Tennesee like it was. Would it be good to remove import tarrifs across the board? Sure, but not unilaterally. Whenever we've done that other countries haven't followed suit. So we just devastate that sector. They aren't stupid, why should we be?