[ExI] Free Trade

[John Clark]

On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 8:03 PM <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:


> *>>…*
>> * Spike, I'd be interested to hear your opinion of the 50% tariff that He
>> Who Must Not Be Named imposed on Brazil even though the US had a trade
>> SURPLUS with Brazil of over $8 billion. …**John K Clark*
>
>
>
>
> *> John, regardless of what country, tariffs are still taxes and is
> capital the government removes from the economy. *
>

*I could not agree more!  *


> *> As such it is still subject to Laffer theory,*
>

*Laffer theory? All Laffer said is that to maximize the amount of money the
federal government receives the tax rate should not be too high or too low,
and to illustrate that point he drew a curve on a blackboard that is called
by some the "Laffer curve" but that I call a keen grasp of the
obvious. Laffer never claimed to have derived the equation that produced
that curve, and he certainly never came up with a figure of 20% which you
mentioned, he never came up with a number at all. *

>
> *> regardless of the motive, the amount, the country, etc.  None of that
> matters.  Only how much of the GPD is removed from the economy.*
>

*As I said before, it DOES matter because the United States is not the only
country in the world and because some things, such as advanced computer
chips, are so complex that no one country can make one entirely on their
own. Other countries don't care how high our income tax is, or our sales
tax or our property tax or our inheritance tax, but they DO care how high
our tariffs are because that reduces international trade and is a lose-lose
proposition. Nobody wins a trade war. *

*And you still haven't told me if you think it was wise that He Who Must
Not Be Named slapped a 50% tariff on Brazil for a reason that he admitted
had absolutely NOTHING to do with economics. *

*John K Clark*
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