European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 14, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes monday october 14. 1985 William Buckley Only economic aggression justifies protectionism Vuk Ark knt ring inc most serious Mage in Llic mutter of protective tariffs and it is Worth it to reflect on a few fundamentals and in unpublicized alter native to comprehensive protectionism. It ought to be Clear that As a general proposition tariffs arc universally harm Ful. The reason for this is that no nation in the world is naturally endowed to take the Auta Chic Road in. The situation in which nation x makes everything absolutely everything used by the Citi ens of nation x not Only is this impossible . The United states has no Platinum deposits and therefore needs in buy Platinum from somebody it is undesirable. Undesirable because of what the economists Call the doctrine of natural advantage l or the United a Falls to prow bananas in Hothouse at say. $10 per banana rather than buy them for a Nickel from Honduras would make Sens Only to i s x a list planner. Therefore a free flow of goods and serv  benefits the seller and the buyer mutually. And of course the strategic equilibrium of economic Exchange presupposes thai a nation will eventually have to sell As much As it buys otherwise it needs in make up the difference by Selling Gold which it May soon run Oul of or c Piui assets which arc also finite. If a country the United slates for example Falls chronically Short in its exports it is owing to one reason and one alone the Cost of its exports is too High. There arc several reasons Why this might be. The first is protective barriers abroad which slap a High Tariff on Amer ican goods. The second is competitively extravagant costs of manufacture. The third a Dollar whose value is arli finally High on the International Market. Those who speak with facile Tongue prescribe for these problems a a retaliatory Tariff against the offending countries that have tariffs levelled against us b a Tariff to protect wage differentials you re not going to ask a Flo an hour worker in America to accept a 40 percent Cut says labor Leader Lane Kirkland or c a Dol Lar devalued by simply causing the appearance of More dollars i.e., inflation of the Money Supply. Whereas the first objective in non competitive situations ought to be to make your own products cheaper. The first Way to do this is to diminish Over head. What comes immediately to mind Carl Rowan i get 5h0ddv mepov\ndf5e at outrageous prick. But think of the benefits.  to veep we $27-an-h00b.union306 is the tax on business. If the United states were to eliminate corporate Taxa Tion Competition would drive Down the Price of american goods. The second Means of course is to increase technological refinement. This lakes a while Means More engineers and scientists going to College greater rewards for their ideas on productivity More automation and fiscal incentives to save. But it also Means where the limits of technological refinement arc reached reducing wages. This is the most painful of All alternatives but As someone put it a year ago you cannot expect an american earning $10 an hour to buy a car whose assemblymen arc being paid $20 an hour if there is a similar car at a cheaper Price reflecting a lower wage in a foreign country. There is a single circumstance that justifies a form of Protection. And that circumstances is politically defined not economically defined if we had Rea son to believe that Japan intends to de stroy Detroit by subsidy ing the manufacture of cheap cars then we face not Competition but economic aggression. And the w a to countenance economic aggression is by . Far belter if that were the Case an absolute embargo on japanese automobiles and a Fine tuned Effort to figure our exactly How much Japan is contributing toward the manufacture of an automobile and setting up a compensatory Tariff. To begin with the figures Are almost impossible to devise. And they arc quickly vitiated by retaliatory tariffs in kind and before we know it we Are headed toward a impossible flight toward aut Archy and the doctrine of comparative advantage trophies from disuse. What happens then is the world depression that logically follows any refusal by economics to Pur sue rational Enterprise. What can government do at a negative level it should resist the easy Call to the convenient Tariff. At a tougher level it should a eliminate the corporation lax b eliminate tax on savings and investments c single Oul the most offensive trading part Ner and Clamp Down an exemplary six month embargo on Purchase of any kind from that country As a Means of communicating that we can distinguish Between Competition and economic aggression. C Universal porn Syndicate Kennedy will surely make run for president in i had a private luncheon Wilh sen. Edward m. Kennedy recently and left his Home certain of this the 53-year-old Massachusetts Democrat is going to run for  Lent in 1988. During two hours of conversation Kennedy made it Clear that he is concerned about where the United states is heading in terms of arms control foreign policy in Genera civil rights Trade policy and More. And he is troubled by the rot that has been spreading within his party. So. Like any Able politician who will Tell you honestly i be always said that i d like to be presi Dent Kennedy is embracing the  that he can save both his party and the nation. This May come As joyous news to those democrats who were delegates to the democratic convention in 19ko and cheered roared wept As Ted Kennedy gave one of the great political speeches of All time. He quoted Republican Nomi Nee Ronald Reagan As saying that unemployment insurance is a prepaid vacation plan for  and said that nominee is no Friend of  he quoted Reagan As saying that morning and evening he prayed that the Federal government not bail out new  and said that Reagan is no Friend of this City and of our great Urban  the rafters of Madison Square Garden Bent to the applause. Journalists wrote inc next Day Hal while Jimmy car Ter won the nomination. Kennedy had won the Conven lion. But Reagan won the election. And now those who will go to the 1988 convention will have to decide How much of the Kennedy mystique is left can Teddy still bring Down a conc lion Hall do most americans think thai he will bring Ihm Camelot revisited or simple bankruptcy whatever they think. Kennedy is going to seek the democratic nomination barring some grotesquely rude signs from his party that the Donkey docs l love him anymore. The luncheon Lalk led me to a conclusion Hal Kennedy does l see anyone else within the dam Coralic parly Wilh the Charisma the record on the issues who can make Volcks believe that a Clurn to inc leadership of Franklin d. Roosevelt Harry Truman and John f. Kennedy is possible. No nol Gary Han nol Mario Cuomo nol anyone else now being mentioned. Or so some democrats arc telling Kennedy. So the last possible president of the Kennedy dynasty is inclined to run because barring Success by Rea Gan in repealing the 22nd amendment so he can run for a third term Teddy thinks he can beat any of the republicans who arc already campaigning for the 1988 nomination. Kennedy does t think Reagan can tap the shoulder of George Bush Jack Kemp Bob Dole or any other Republican comander and coat him in the Politi Cal Teflon that has enable-1 Reagan to keep smiling through failure and disaster. I know. Some readers May now be saying that Kennedy can t run. He told the nation in december of 82 that be cause of an obligation to his children in the Wake of the breakup of his marriage thai he would not be a candid la for president in 1984." these readers do pot remember the last sentence of that statement of dec. I. Kennedy said Actu ally i enjoyed campaigning in to a in 1980. And who knows someday i May do it  Trust me. Ted Kennedy is nol Oul front in the Senate on the issues of South african sanctions arms control peace in Central America immigration reforms and even Republican issues like budget reduction and u line  veto for presidents just because he likes to work hard. Kennedy is building a record As a not so Liberal Leader who has the guts to Lake on unpopular causes and problems. It May or May not be too late for Kennedy after 23 years in inc Senate and previous failures to get the democratic nomination to win the presidency. But when he tries in 1988, As i am sure he will a new dimension will be added to inc dynamics of the politics of a great democracy. C new America Syndicate