Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Electoral College Map...we need a centrist candidate to win the rustbelt to stop Trump. [View all]Luvapottamus
(31 posts)Yes, we see eye to eye.
But here's what I think about tariffs:
It's not intended to be punitive. You don't just slap a tariff on China to punish them for something.
The purpose it to protect industries and capabilities here. So the revenue should be targeted to infrastructure improvements
that enable the industry to compete.
For example if you tax German Cars to Protect detroit:
Spend that revenue fixing their water system, making electricity more abundant and cheaper, providing access to raw materials, expanding their rail and ports...
And when an industry is healthy you can lower the tarrif.
Another example:
California grapes
Chilean grapes
I buy California grapes in the summer, Chilean grapes in the winter.
No need to do tariffs on that if it's a fair trade.
But the purpose of protectionism generally is two-fold:
1)Independence from foreign suppliers. We need to be able to produce everything we use, plus a surplus so we don't run trade deficits.
2)Monetary Velocity.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2V
The term "velocity of money" (also "The velocity of circulation of money" refers to how fast money passes from one holder to the next. It can refer to the income velocity of money, which is the frequency at which the average same unit of currency is used to purchase newly domestically-produced goods and services within a given time period.[3] In other words, it is the number of times one unit of money is spent to buy goods and services per unit of time.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocity_of_money
Blacksmith buys clothes from the mercantile, merchant gets a tooth pulled at the barber, barber buys eggs and milk from the farmer, farmer gets his mule shoed at the blacksmith....
Cash is a reusable resource, if you don't spend your whole paycheck at dollar general. Look at the chart i linked at FRED^^^^most paychecks are being flushed directly to china via Wallstreet.
Local economies need local monetary velocity.
MV is prosperity.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided