r/videos 2d ago

Milton Friedman on Tariffs and Free Trade

https://youtu.be/59YWFR8lCEc?si=b4jSG79TZrE8CHLl
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u/1900grs 2d ago

Sure, cheap Japanese steel might hurt U.S. steel jobs, but here's the thing - those Japanese companies aren't going to just frame the dollars they get.

His answer is too simple here partly because of how the question was framed for economics of the time. He doesn't take into account things like national security, like we're seeing now with steel. Not solely because of tariffs, but when a country loses the ability to make its own steel when mills shutter, you can't just start up production and supply lines in times of crisis. We become dependent on the foreign country for something we used to own. It's not just the flow of money. It's the control of resources and ownership of processes.

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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist 2d ago

National security concerns are always overblown.

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u/Nyther53 2d ago

Ukraine might beg to differ.

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u/eipotttatsch 2d ago

Ukraine isn't oceans removed from any potential enemy

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u/karldrogo88 2d ago

Then we should probably stop making an enemy out of our landlocked neighbors