Trump Had One Test of What He Learned at the Wharton School of Business, Flunked


Trump received a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) from the prestigious Wharton. These programs include some economics. One of the topics always covered is International Trade.

Because countries have different natural resources and levels of education they produce some things better than others. They are better off is they produce the products they are best at an buy the others from other countries. This is true of poor countries that are more inefficient at everything, or have low incomes, and rich countries, which are efficient at everything and have high incomes. When a rich country trades with a poor country the standards of living in both rise.

There is a conventional wisdom that countries with cheaper labor pay take jobs away from those with higher labor pay. Countries with low pay cannot produce more of everything, their labor force is finite. Choices have to be made. Rich countries cannot produce more of everything either.

The same applies to states within the U.S. The textile industry first moved from New England to the South. Since then it has moved out of the country. Other industries that better suited those areas moved in. 

Decades ago, Trump decided he did not like all this competition and movement of money and industry. He found wealthy people in Japan were trying to buy the same real estate he wanted to buy. He stated publicly trade caused this and he didn't like it. So, when he became President he began putting tariffs of Chinese goods. China stopped buying as much grain and grain prices fell. He is about to lose several Midwestern states and bring down a Republican Senator of two because he does not understand international trade.

The link points discusses there appears to be only one economists out of the thousands of PhD economists around the world who agrees Trump's higher tariffs are a good idea. That one lone economist is Trump's economic advisor.  

Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa tried to explain the tariff problem to Trump. He was not interested in what she had to say. But she has remained a big Trump supporter. I always thought she would be reelected easily. Polls show her a bit behind. 

Trade is an issue left to the President to manage. Congress is little involved. When we have a President without understanding or a willingness to learn our country has a serious problem.

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