Free traders do NOT want to discuss WHY manufacturing is coming back to the USA

[pampango]

16. Excellent post, Zalatix. Bookmarked. Love your excerpts and (quite liberal) scenario:

“What happens when you run out of sources of cheap labor"?

First of all, the world should be so fortunate. I can't imagine a more liberal scenario than the world running out of cheap labor (= poor people). If you think this scenario “has ceased to be hypothetical. That scenario is now happening.” more power to you. I sincerely hope you are right.

Two answers to your question/scenario: 1) Whatever policy or policies bring about such a scenario I will express my appreciation for those who were responsible for them regardless of whether or not they were “my” policies. Such an equitable distribution of global income would be a wonderful thing. (One can assume that conservatives won't be happy about this since an equitable distribution of income (nationally or globally) is at the bottom of their list of goals; quite the opposite.)

2) What would happen to “free trading” if there were no more sources of cheap labor? My guess it would continue the way it does today between the US and Canada/EU/Australia and between countries in the EU. Our biggest trading partners in 2011 were the EU ($635 billion) and Canada ($597 billion). (China was next at $502 billion then Mexico at $460 billion.) That probably will not change if we “run out of sources of cheap labor.