You are not personally guilty and I don't feel personally guilty, but these are facts. Part of the reason why we are so rich is because we drain poor countries. You know for example that the last 10 years richer countries (probably mainly China) have bought agricultural land in Africa the size of 6 times Germany?
So no, I don't want to hear anything from a canadian about level playing field.
You know it doesn't work like that. There is no-one in Canada that wants to make plastic toys for the same amount of money a chinese guy earns. And playing WoW also doesn't seem so much fun if you have to do it 20 hours per day for a few dollars so that your boss can sell the character to some westener.
Aaa, but if you use the human rights and environment argument I of course fully agree with you ( as I have mentioned before in this thread), but this is something else than saying you want the guy next door to keep his job.
My whole point is that we can't complain about a non-level playing field while we are (through all kinds of trade-laws and taxes) influencing international markets so much in our advantage. When the playing field becomes more level.....when China, India, Russia, Brazil etc are a bit on our wealth levels there is one important result......we will be much poorer.
I know you a bit, and I think you actually think about this the same as I do in terms of what is fair, hating the terrible labour laws in asia etc. etc. but looking at it only from an economics point of view, the loosing some jobs in our countries is juts a very minor negative point* of world trade as it exists now.
*negative point for us in the west that is.
So no, I don't want to hear anything from a canadian about level playing field.
(10-05-2012, 08:37 PM)ShadowHM Wrote:(10-05-2012, 12:25 PM)eppie Wrote: If we didn't have these sources of cheap labour that are making stuff we daily use for us, we would indeed have more work at home, but we would have less time for our jobs such as fill in your weird modern job name-manager which actually make a lot more money.
No, those of us with our 'weird modern job name-manager which actually make a lot more money' jobs would have a bit less money, but our socialist national goverments might have more tax revenue, due to actually receiving income tax from those citizens who now are unemployed to help pay for the services all citizens receive.
You know it doesn't work like that. There is no-one in Canada that wants to make plastic toys for the same amount of money a chinese guy earns. And playing WoW also doesn't seem so much fun if you have to do it 20 hours per day for a few dollars so that your boss can sell the character to some westener.
(10-05-2012, 08:37 PM)ShadowHM Wrote: I can't think of any response to that. If buying the cheapest products, made in places with little-to-no human rights and little-to-no environmental rules, helping support governments that have no incentive to change that set-up makes you feel virtuous, please enjoy the feeling.
Aaa, but if you use the human rights and environment argument I of course fully agree with you ( as I have mentioned before in this thread), but this is something else than saying you want the guy next door to keep his job.
My whole point is that we can't complain about a non-level playing field while we are (through all kinds of trade-laws and taxes) influencing international markets so much in our advantage. When the playing field becomes more level.....when China, India, Russia, Brazil etc are a bit on our wealth levels there is one important result......we will be much poorer.
I know you a bit, and I think you actually think about this the same as I do in terms of what is fair, hating the terrible labour laws in asia etc. etc. but looking at it only from an economics point of view, the loosing some jobs in our countries is juts a very minor negative point* of world trade as it exists now.
*negative point for us in the west that is.