Charging one more time into the Free-Trade breach, the Wall Street Journal sings the praises of House Speaker Boehner in today’s op/ed pages:
Washington’s Free Trade Adult
John Boehner acts presidential.President Obama is indulging Congress’s protectionist elements as the price of moving three delayed free-trade agreements. Speaker John Boehner showed better judgment when he denounced such tactical domestic politics as “dangerous” on Monday night.
After Boehner’s golfing-date induced performance on budget and debt-limit issues, I’m not sure just how much we can rely on his economic wisdom.
On the other hand, originally published by American Thinker in January of this year, the following gem is titled, “Smoot-Hawley & the Economic Contraction of the Great Depression.” My point is, what damage did Smoot-Hawley actually do to the economy? The following spreadsheet from that article tells a story quite different than the standard version most economist spout:
(Click image to enlarge. You can download a working .xls spreadsheet here.)
As Clara Peller was oft inclined to say:
Is there? Anybody there? I’m really beginning to wonder. And if there is, they’re not running for elected office.
And John Boehner “Presidential”? My foot! If elected, he’d start crying. Right?
Such a joke we’ve become.
Ciao,
Dennis