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| Published on 10 August. See above. |
In the world of business, one person's gain is another's loss.
So you say in your editorial of August 6.
But that is simply not true. If I buy an apple from you I have gained an apple and you have gained some money. We have both gained. And that's so for the vast majority of trade and commerce.
This may seem a trivial quibble, but it's the sort of dangerously wrong thinking that informs Trump's tariff and trade shenanigans. He believes, that trade is a zero-sum game: that America "loses" when it has a trade deficit of, say, $500 billion. It doesn't. Its citizens have $500 billion worth of goods.
Trump's win-lose misconception leads him to think that tariffs are "good" and will lead to wealth. Again, false. Tariffs are a tax on Americans. There was a reason the world — at the urging of America, let's recall — established the post-war General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. To reduce tariffs which increased world trade and world wealth.
I wouldn't buy into the Trumpian delusion that trade is a bad thing unless you "win" with tariffs. That's the same bunkum as "one person's gain is another's loss".
Peter Forsythe
Discovery Bay
Hong Kong
93080799
Greater Bay Area offers a chance for tourism success
https://sc.mp/2AGI3C9
https://sc.mp/2AGI3C9
