Sunday Musings 5/8/16 Free Trade is not the Issue

Perhaps campaigns have always been like this, catering to voter's preconceived notions of what needs to happen.  I am quite sure Donald Trump's and Bernie Sander's supporters would agree that is what should be happening.

But then there is reality.

U.S. manufacturing is not in the toilet. U.S. manufacturing now produces 47% more than it did 20 years ago.  The problem is automation allows that production to occur with 29% fewer workers. Meanwhile, energy production has shifted from coal to natural gas and it takes far fewer workers to produce and use natural gas than it does coal in the production of electricity.  As a result, many younger workers are industries that have a global presence and are both earning a living being globally competitive and producing good returns for shareholders.  That is how a competitive economy operates.

We have a 5% rate of unemployment.

The level of manufacturing and employment is the result of good economic policy with free trade agreements in place.  Tearing up those free trade agreements cannot be a positive for economic stability.  Those who are not able to find work in the global economy need a different kind of assistance.  And that assistance should vary greatly between people of different ages and skills.

But that is not a pithy campaign line nor does it cater to angry preconceived notions on the part of certain categories of voters.

Meanwhile, Ross Douthat produced a scathing column on why Donald Trump is not fit to be President.

"But there still remains the problem of Trump himself. Even if you find things to appreciate in Trumpism — as I have, and still do — the man who has raised those issues is still unfit for an office as awesomely powerful as the presidency of the United States."

"His unfitness starts with basic issues of temperament. It encompasses the race-baiting, the conspiracy theorizing, the flirtations with violence, and the pathological lying that have been his campaign-trail stock in trade."

"But above all it is Trump’s authoritarianism that makes him unfit for the presidency — his stated admiration for Putin and the Chinese Politburo, his promise to use the power of the presidency against private enterprises, the casual threats he and his surrogates toss off against party donors, military officers, the press, the speaker of the House, and more."

.......

"Trump would not be an American Mussolini; even our sclerotic institutions would resist him more effectively than that. But he could test them as no modern president has tested them before — and with them, the health of our economy, the civil peace of our society and the stability of an increasingly perilous world."

"In sum: It would be possible to justify support for Trump if he merely promised a period of chaos for conservatism. But to support Trump for the presidency is to invite chaos upon the republic and the world. No policy goal, no court appointment, can justify such recklessness."

"To Trumpism’s appeal, to Trump’s constituents, conservatives should listen and answer “yes,” or “maybe,” or “not that, but how about…”

"But to Trump himself, there is no patriotic answer except “no."

Once again the professional pundit writes it better than I can, which is why they get paid to do this.