Ella Rose Mast Newsletter – June 1988

Ella Rose Mast Newsletter – June 1988
578 Downloads

IT IS SO NICE TO READ THE WORDS OF SOMEONE WHO AGREES WITH ME. Ha. These remarks from the Editor in Chief of the United States News and world report, May 16, 1988, Headline: WEASEL WORDS:

In the Omnibus trade bill which is before congress, this miserable bill ought to be called the Ominous Bill. This Bill (The size of a large book) is loaded with sectional buy-offs. Every sectional interest in these United States is appeased, and every National Interest is sacrificed.

The hard fact, alas, is that less than 20% of American exports are affected by the trade regulators of other countries. The percentage of U.S. imports subject to tariffs or restrictions has more than tripled during the Reagan years, and the cost of such restrictions are staggering. For instance, the Dairy Quotas cost more than 5 Billion dollars per year, or about $200,000.00 per job saved, or $2,000 for each cow. These costs are born by all Americans, and they add to the inflation pressure we are now seeing.

The wrong road is to let Congress meddle in these matters, as it has been trying to do by moving the power to negotiate bilateral, and multilateral trade agreements away from the President. Congress is indecisive, parochial, and promotes short-term local interest over the long-term National Interest. In trade this is self defeating because protection discourages reform. The most inefficient companies have no incentive to improve while the barriers remain.