Estonia is an inconvenient neighbor for another reason. It’s an uncomfortable reminder to Russians of what could have been. Today, the typical Estonian earns nearly 40 percent more than the typical Russian.
More than half of imported goods are intermediate items or inputs used in manufacturing. Because the cost of these inputs will rise with the tariffs, total employment in manufacturing and the entire economy will decline or, at best, grow slower.
In 1970, Venezuelans were the wealthiest people in Latin America. With annual incomes comparable to those of the Finns and the Japanese, they earned two-and-a-half times what the typical Latin American earned. Their wealth bought them a longer life, lower infant mortality, and some measure of safety. Today, as the United Socialist Party’s Nicolás Maduro tries to steal another term as president, it is a different story.
Selfishness guides business to trade value for value with all parties – wages for employees’ productivity, products and services for customers’ payment, payment for suppliers’ products, and so on – by mutual consent, for mutual benefit, with no deception or fraud. This is the only way business can maximize long-term profits – and the reason it should be selfish.
Just as there’s absolutely no reason for you to worry about the trade deficit that you have with your physician or your grocer, there’s absolutely no reason for us Americans to worry about the trade deficit that America has with China.
Labor is not, in itself, a source of value. Labor is expended in the pursuit of value, and the market process’s competing bids and offers convert people’s individual assessments into intelligible data called prices.
Russia and other tyrannies can take hostages whenever they choose to and use them as bargaining chips.
Biden’s claim that he released 1 billion barrels of gasoline to “lower prices at the pump” is his latest attempt to convince Americans he’s trying to lower gasoline prices. But in fact, he’s doing his utmost to raise prices, because this is necessary for his anti-fossil-fuel goals.
O&G mergers are good for America because they increase domestic production, which makes oil cheaper and increases our national security. Government should get out of the way immediately.
CAPITALISM REVIEW