"Buy American" vs. "Buy, American"
Once again, we meet up with Smith and Jones. Wong has made an offer to Smith. Smith thinks it's a good deal. Jones is irate. He protests. He thinks that Smith should pay a sales tax to the federal government whenever he buys from Wong. Jones calls this sales tax a tariff. He prefers not to mention the phrase, "sales tax." He knows that voters resist sales taxes, but they favor tariffs.
Smith: Wong's offer looks like a good deal.
Jones: It's not a good deal for America.
Smith: It's a good deal for me.
Jones: You're not America.
Smith: Who is?
Jones: People who live in America.
Smith: Which people who live in America?
Jones: People who work in America.
Smith: What about people who buy in America?
Jones: That depends on who they buy from.
Smith: Why should it matter who we buy from?
Jones: It matters to Americans.
Smith: It doesn't matter to me. I just want a good deal.
Jones: It's not a good deal for most Americans.
Smith: Most Americans don't care what I buy.
Jones: But they care what people like you buy.
Smith: Who are people like me?
Jones: People who don't always buy from Americans.
Smith: What about imported raw materials?
Jones: That's OK.
Smith: But what about Americans who sell raw materials?
Jones: They had better lower their prices.
Smith: That's what I tell sellers of manufactured goods.
Jones: That's different.
Smith: Why is it different?
Jones: Because sellers of raw materials did not labor to produce raw materials.
Smith: What has labor got to do with it?
Jones: Everything.
Smith: Why isn't ownership the only legal issue governing buying and selling?
Jones: It is: the ownership of labor.
Smith: Not raw materials.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: Do you labor for a living?
Jones: Yes.
Smith: Does your employer sometimes buy raw materials?
Jones: Yes.
Smith: So, you want your employer to buy raw materials at a good price?
Jones: Yes.
Smith: So, he buys imported raw materials.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: Do you want sales taxes on imported raw materials?
Jones: No.
Smith: I agree. I don't want sales taxes on imported products.
Jones: That's where you and I differ.
Smith: What do we differ on?
Jones: The need for sales taxes on the output of foreign workers.
Smith: But we agree on the absence of any need for sales taxes on imported raw materials.
Jones: So it seems.
Smith: So, you distinguish between good sales taxes and bad sales taxes.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: What is this difference?
Jones: Sales taxes are appropriate when imposed on the output of foreign labor.
Smith: But not foreign raw materials.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: So, what should matter judicially is the ownership of labor, not raw materials.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: Why?
Jones: Because America needs cheap raw materials.
Smith: But not cheap manufactured goods.
Jones: That depends on who offers cheap goods.
Smith: What if it's foreign sellers?
Jones: Then the imports should be taxed.
Smith: But that costs Americans more money. Also, the government gets bigger.
Jones: That doesn't matter if it protects American labor.
Smith: But isn't the idea to make American workers richer?
Jones: Yes, it is.
Smith: But if they can buy more with their wages, they get richer.
Jones: I can see where this is headed.
Smith: Good for you.
Jones: You are going to argue that lower-cost imports will reduce the cost of living for Americans.
Smith: Correct.
Jones: But low-cost imports from foreign nations will hurt American workers who live in America.
Smith: What about American workers who live in Wyoming?
Jones: What about them?
Smith: Aren't they hurt by imports from the other 49 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico?
Jones: Of course not.
Smith: Why not?
Jones: Because of the border. They are all inside America. Everyone inside America should be allowed to compete for American buyers?
Smith: What about competing for foreign buyers?
Jones: Them, too.
Smith: Who buy our exports with what?
Jones: Dollars.
Smith: How do you think they get these dollars?
Jones: They buy them.
Smith: What do they sell to buy them?
Jones: Whatever they own.
Smith: Such as raw materials.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: And labor.
Jones: I can see where you're going with that.
Smith: You are a true scholar.
Jones: Well, I'm not buying it.
Smith: Buying what?
Jones: That argument.
Smith: Even if I give it away for free?
Jones: There are no free lunches. You're not giving it away. You're trying to get me to agree that we should lower sales taxes on imported goods.
Smith: Correct.
Jones: Here is my view: Americans should buy American.
Smith: So, your slogan is: "Buy American."
Jones: Right.
Smith: Mine is this: "Buy, American."
Jones: You added a comma.
Smith: With that comma, I added a concept: the benefit of buying something with your production.
Jones: Is that because it makes no sense to produce something and then throw it away?
Smith: Correct.
Jones: But you can save your money.
Smith: That means you put money in a bank, which then makes money available for borrowers to buy goods, either consumption goods or production goods.
Jones: So, you have to buy something.
Smith: Unless you withdraw currency from your bank and hide it, yes. It rarely pays to do this. In any case, you plan to buy something later, when prices fall
Jones: I say Americans should buy American-made goods. If they want foreign-made goods, they should pay a tax.
Smith: You think "buy American" is a moral principle.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: You think that "buy, American" must be subordinated to "buy American."
Jones: Yes.
Smith: As a moral principle.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: Because what's good for American workers is good for all America.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: And lower prices are not good for Americans.
Jones: Not for imported goods.
Smith: Only for imported raw materials.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: What about imported oil?
Jones: That's bad for America.
Smith: So, you are for energy self-sufficiency.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: You are for using up American oil now.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: So that we can import it later.
Jones: Yes.
Smith: Even if it costs more later?
Jones: Yes.
Smith: So, you don't want free market pricing to let people decide whether to import oil or buy it from American producers.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: Why is this?
Jones: Because we should not always trust the free market.
Smith: But the free market is based on the freedom of exchange.
Jones: Correct. That's the problem. It's dangerous.
Smith: What is?
Jones: Liberty of exchange.
Smith: Why is it dangerous?
Jones: Because too many Americans don't know what's good for them.
Smith: Such as lower prices.
Jones: For imported goods.
Smith: But not raw materials.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: Except for oil.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: So, we can trust Americans when they buy American goods made with imported raw materials?
Jones: Yes.
Smith: But not goods made by foreign workers.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: Because it's good for Americans to tax other Americans.
Jones: Sometimes.
Smith: So, you are not calling for a hike in sales taxes generally.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: You are calling for federal sales taxes only on imported manufactured goods.
Jones: Correct.
Smith: To nudge Americans to buy American.
Jones: Who said anything about nudging? I think the government should send out people with badges and guns to get Americans to stop buying . . . or else.
Smith: Why is that?
Jones: Because people should buy American.
Smith: Which is different from "buy, American."
Jones: Yes.
Smith: I appreciate your time. Your time is valuable.
Jones: Not so much these days.
Smith: Why is that?
Jones: I got fired. My company transferred production to Mexico.
Smith: Why?
Jones: They said our union had hiked wages too high.
Smith: How do you and your wife get by without your paycheck?
Jones: We buy at Walmart.
Smith: Which sells imported goods.
Jones: As I tell my wife: "You do what you have to do."
Smith: Indeed, we do.