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Barron's Cover Story: Donald Trump's Worst Idea: Trade Barriers
I think I remember Trump proposing to reduce the national debt by negotiating to pay it back pennies on the dollar. What would happen to the concept of full faith and credit? Which poison do you prefer?
BTW what would it be like if we had no US debt? What security could pension funds hold to be considered risk-free? How would this situation affect the United States? My answer: I don't even want to think about it.
Tough choices for Mr. Trump and America: if trade grows the overall pie but suppresses the incomes of unskilled and semi-skilled labor who must compete with workers in the third world, do we reverse course and try the opposite? Or do we try some other income redistribution scheme?
Comments
BTW what would it be like if we had no US debt? What security could pension funds hold to be considered risk-free? How would this situation affect the United States? My answer: I don't even want to think about it.
We want significant (self-dealing) debt, always; the only question is percent of GDP.
Nick de Peyster
http://undervaluedstocks.info/
https://piie.com/commentary/testimonies/measuring-costs-trade-related-job-loss
The current admin's strong wage insurance and related policies / proposals are not widely appreciated, of course.
blogs.worldbank.org/jobs/moving-towards-universal-basic-income