Free trade is basically unrestricted capitalism, especially between countries. Free trade encourages the fundemental aspects of capitalism by promoting a survival of the fittest mentality and the market for prices on goods and services is dependant only upon supply and demand. In contrast to free trade are restrictions which governments impose on the trade system. Examples include protective tarrifs and taxes on imports, and so-called "free trade agreements" which basically force a certain commodity to be a certain price amongst all the member nations.
An example of a nation who exercises such protectionism is Japan. Japan has very high import tarrifs on goods and products of protected industries. Electronics and automobiles are the best examples of this. When I was in Japan I almost never saw a car from a non-Japanese auto company. When I did it was like a status symbol. You never saw a Ford Escort, but occasionally I saw a Jeep Wrangler or other showpiece vehicle who's purpose there was "cool points" rather than functionality, reliability, or any other valuable attribute. There were millions of Toyotas, Hondas, and Mitsubishis there however. The only non-Japanese electronics I ever saw there were iPhones. Apple managed to work a deal with one of the major telecom companies there (NCC DoCoMo I think it was) to provide iPhones as an offering to customers signing a cell phone contract with the carrier.
Getting back on track, I think that free trade is a good thing in general because it drives prices down and product quality up, but free trade is a bad thing for the U.S. My opinion of my fellow Americans is actually pretty low. The more I learn about the world outside the States, the more clear it becomes that most of the people in this nation are ignorant and lazy. Those of you reading this are of the minority that are making an effort to better yourselves, and while attending the uni it's easy to think that all of America does the same, but most the truth is Americans are slobs.
They and their children are type of people will not be able to compete with the driven and well educated Indians and Chinese. More and more jobs will go there because the U.S. education system is nothing more than tax-funded day care, and Americans have a welfare mentality where they think everything should just be handed to them without having to work simply because they are American citizens.
The "new middler" as Friedman describes it is someone who is successfully employed as middle class in the new flat world. As more and more middle class service jobs are being outsourced, people in developed countries who have traditionally been employed in fields such as accounting, tax form preparation, tech support will have to retrain to other jobs which have come about as a result of this world flattening. What is not as offshoreable are the jobs where managerial skills within a global 24/7/365 supply chain, collaboration skills that help realize new ideas into new products, and sales, marketing, and leadership skills to make a profit from those ideas and creations.
According to the book in the new flat world those who have a high 'curiosity quotient' and high 'passion quotient' are more valuable than those with a high intelligence quotient. I tend to agree with this because in our fast paced world, those who can learn quickly due to high curiosity and passion do better in business than those who, though smart, have no drive or desire to adapt, learn, or innovate.
No comments:
Post a Comment