It's a principle of capitalism, but taken to the extreme, it's just a strawman. At this point, I think we are pretty sure that some interventions make capitalism better.
The free market (which I think people also include in capitalism) would correctly predict labour intensive jobs would be outsourced. This is very much a feature (comparative advantage), not a bug. I realized a lot of supposedly free market people don't even know the basics of it. Politically the free market has become an identity associated with national greatness and a sense of control of ones destiny. The dominant feeling seems to be if you have a free market, you will win everything (which is actually opposite from the truth).
The point of Capitalism is Marx needed a straw man to tear down. The world has never seen what he envisioned.
What you might call capitalists very much plan. They don't believe in central planning where one "guy" makes a plans and everyone else implements them, but they do plan.
Which is why things that bring back manufacturing to the US is something we were doing. It's just unfortunate that instead of continuing that, the current administration is trying undermine the effective efforts of the previous administration's actions that helped bring manufacturing back into the US.
No, it doesn't. There is a presumption that manufacturing is Better, a more ideal way of organizing the economy, based on a false nostalgia of America past.
sure, but it will take longer than 4 or 8 years and everyone in power wants their own thing, not continuity. it cannot happen without a long term plan and long term plans cannot happen if have, maybe, a year to do things and the rest is election time.
Well, sure, but perhaps some kind of plan is warranted?
IIRC correctly, the previous administration did try to do some of the slow, steady imperfect work of planning to gradually bring back key industries.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act and https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/11/24195811/biden-ev-factory...
Of course, the voters wanted something else.
Who is going to commit the resources to make serious money losing plans vs manufacturing overseas?
Isn't the point of capitalism to not have a plan and let the market figure it out?
How are markets going to figure anything out with tariffs changing every day, depending on the mood of dear leader?
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Countries that believe that are dominated by those who plan.
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It's a principle of capitalism, but taken to the extreme, it's just a strawman. At this point, I think we are pretty sure that some interventions make capitalism better.
This post is specifically about Industrial Policy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_policy
But other effective interventions are anti-trust and demand-inducing regulation (e.g. people want to fly because they know it's safe).
No, of course not. That's oversimplifying to the point of idiocy.
Markets do not mean that an Industrial strategy / Industrial policy is not needed.
Markets respond to incentives created by such a strategy.
The free market (which I think people also include in capitalism) would correctly predict labour intensive jobs would be outsourced. This is very much a feature (comparative advantage), not a bug. I realized a lot of supposedly free market people don't even know the basics of it. Politically the free market has become an identity associated with national greatness and a sense of control of ones destiny. The dominant feeling seems to be if you have a free market, you will win everything (which is actually opposite from the truth).
That's what we did, and it moved everything to China.
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The point of Capitalism is Marx needed a straw man to tear down. The world has never seen what he envisioned.
What you might call capitalists very much plan. They don't believe in central planning where one "guy" makes a plans and everyone else implements them, but they do plan.
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I'm sure that the capitalists would disagree in this instance.
Capitalism as such went out the window with tariffs.
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Which is why things that bring back manufacturing to the US is something we were doing. It's just unfortunate that instead of continuing that, the current administration is trying undermine the effective efforts of the previous administration's actions that helped bring manufacturing back into the US.
No, it doesn't. There is a presumption that manufacturing is Better, a more ideal way of organizing the economy, based on a false nostalgia of America past.
sure, but it will take longer than 4 or 8 years and everyone in power wants their own thing, not continuity. it cannot happen without a long term plan and long term plans cannot happen if have, maybe, a year to do things and the rest is election time.