So Donald Trump said that he would stop American companies from building plants in other countries by imposing a big tax on the products they want to sell in America (in specific, he was talking about Ford opening a plant in Mexico). I don’t know whether he’s aware that the president has exactly ZERO power to do something like that, but I’m more concerned with the thousands (or millions, maybe?) who cheer and applaud populist nonsense like that. Even if he did have the power to pull that, why do people continue to think that such things would be good for this country? They need to go back and study first-year economics. Trade restrictions, tariffs, import quotas, etc., is not going to help American or make it richer. Trying to coerce companies into keeping jobs here when they’re not economically viable is not going to create jobs or make Americans’ lives better. And the widespread nativist opinion (which Trump feeds into) that China and Mexico are somehow “beating” us economically is absurd. Free trade is what makes everyone wealthier, not politicians and their populist grandstanding.

Dan Turner
DOC# 767569