China, South Korea: Beijing’s opposition to Seoul’s deployment of the THAAD missile defense system is less about missiles and more about efforts to weaken the US’ longstanding network of formal and informal alliances in Asia. Grant Newsham writes that the THAAD controversy displays China’s familiar modus operandi: First, pick a fight over an allegedly offensive act; next, follow up with vitriol and veiled threats; and then inflict economic pressure.READ THE STORY HERE
U.S. Trade Deficit Measures America’s Success. @danielgriswold @mercatus
“…Counting a transshipped good as an import but not an export would make as little sense as counting it as an export but not an import. It is both or neither. Its impact on the amount of goods in the domestic economy is effectively zero, with the import and export effectively cancelling each other out. The re-export of goods should not bother mercantilists, since the good is not consumed in the U.S. and, therefore, not threatening to displace competing domestic production. The reality of trade is that even transshipments benefit the economy by creating opportunities to add value as a hub for global distribution and logistics. Hong Kong and Singapore have grown rich in large part because of their prominent roles as re-exporting nations. Hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs have been created in the United States in seaports and airports that handle the transshipment of goods and in sophisticated distribution centers that direct goods to their final destinations at home and abroad. South Florida, for example, has become an important hub for the distribution of products to markets throughout Latin America. The region supports a thriving network of warehouses, distribution centers, and busy ports that handle both U.S.-made and foreign-made goods for export….” http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/320781-trump-trade-data-proposal-would-defy-common-sense-honest
Anne Applebaum writes: May’s broader “global” vision is doomed, at least as long as it is tied to a protectionist and isolationist U.S. president. The conundrum remains: In almost every conceivable sphere of economics and foreign policy, May’s views align more closely with the rest of Europe than with Trump’s America. Too bad she is shackled to a party and a policy that prevent her from acting on that obvious truth. – Washington Post
Michael Doran and Peter Rough write: Mr. Trump and Ms. May, like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher before them, represent a rejection of decades of tired wisdom about governance in the West. Instead of contributing to the disintegration of the trans-Atlantic partnership, their meeting has the potential, once again, to begin its reinvigoration. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required) |
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