This may be a little odd, but I had a dream last night that is slightly related to economics.
I was in Iowa and participating in the presidential caucuses. A moderator was at the front of a room (most likely in a school) and he was asking the audience to give ideas for issues that this particular district could present to the national party (I don't know if was Republican or Democrat). Certain "hot button" issues were raised, the moderator would write them down on the chalkboard at the front of the room and then ask for other ideas. The discussion continued that way for awhile. Then I saw myself raise my hand and the moderator called on me. I said, "We should get rid of farm subsidization."
I was immediately booed and yelled at to sit down. The moderator was trying to bring the proceedings to order. I yelled above the crowd, "It would help people in poorer nations and allow them to sell their crops in the US. It will help all of us, as our food would be less expensive and we could use the money we save to find more efficient ways to use our land and time."
Obviously that didn't make things better. The proceedings were quickly broken up as the group (I'm guessing they were mostly farmers) started a riot. Then I woke up.
I did have a couple of martinis last night while watching James Bond in "Octopussy," but I don't think that explains why I was thinking about Free Trade. I might watch The Sound of Music tonight. I shudder to think of what my dreams will bring.
3 comments:
You should be an economist. Make your dreams come true.
Um, don't you think we're exporting enough of our industries outside the U.S. What will our populations do after there is no work to be done?
Reply to Anonymous:
"Don't you think we're exporting enough of our industries outside the U.S.?
- No. When we do things efficiently, we will cease to export "industries" or jobs overseas. When an Indian can answer a phone cheaper than an American (and do a comparable job), then it is better to have the Indian do it. The American can be trained in something the U.S. has a comparitive advantage in, like building airplanes, or medical research, etc.
"What will our populations do after there is no work to be done?"
- There will always be work to do. But you have a point. We are always moving toward becoming more efficient. If a machine can aid us in producing a car and cut the time from 5 days to 12 hours, isn't that good? You can make more cars and the worker has more spare time (hopefully to do something else productive). Maybe we can shorten the work week or have more vacation time.
The United States is already the most productive country in the world. A dollar spent here, will produce the highest return when considering how much work you want done. Sure, you can move your factory down to Mexico, but will it be as productive? No.
The U.S. will survive by continuing to maintain a comparitive advantage in doing things better than anybody else. By constantly rethinking processes, desigins, products, etc, we will have more than enough to keep us busy, when the grunt work is being done by other countries.
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