Here’s a letter to a new and charming correspondent:
Mr. Rob Hall
Mr. Hall:
You accuse me of being a “head up [my] a__ pinhead” who doesn’t understand that Trump’s “no bullsh__ negotiating savvy” is our “only hope” to “make America rich again.”
My head, sir, isn’t the one that’s blocked from seeing reality. It’s yours and your man Trump’s. His scheme to – in your words – “make America rich again” is to negotiate deals under which Americans will produce for foreigners more and receive in return less.
If you fancy sacrificing more for less, that’s your business. In fact, I’d love to hire you to work for me. But it’s impossible to see how Trump will enrich us Americans by successfully demanding that we work harder to enrich non-Americans by shipping to them more of the goods and services that we produce, only for us to be forced to receive in return fewer of the goods and services that non-Americans produce.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
