Why Johnny Can’t Innovate: the American Economy’s Most Surprising Deficit
Ian Fletcher Activist Post I argued in a previous article why, despite America’s current obsession with government budget issues, the real key to bringing back…
Ian Fletcher
Why the Budget is the Wrong Thing to Fight About
Ian Fletcher Activist Post The country is consumed right now with the fight over the Federal budget, specifically the plan of Rep. Ryan (R-WI) to…
The American Manufacturing Crisis and Why it Matters
Ian Fletcher Activist Post Despite the denial chorus of the same politicians, financiers, and economists who told us prior to 2008 that our financial sector…
The Manufacturing Rebound is a Myth
Peterbilt manufacturing – Wiki Commons Ian Fletcher Activist Post Talk of a manufacturing revival is in the air. America has, in fact, gained a quarter-million…
Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China?
Ian Fletcher Activist Post My last article, a review of Eamonn Fingleton’s provocative (but hard to dismiss) book In the Jaws of the Dragon: America’s…
America’s Fate Under Chinese Hegemony
A Review of Eamonn Fingleton’s Jaws of the Dragon Ian Fletcher Activist Post The news has recently hit the press that China’s economy, measured on…
Answering Objections to a Tariff
Ian Fletcher Activist Post It’s only fair to answer some of the objections to the idea of an import tariff that I and others, like…
Why Donald Trump is Right on Trade
Ian Fletcher Activist Post The usual suspects are racing to debunk Donald Trump’s foray into the most serious protectionism—a 25% tariff on China—proposed by a…
A Tariff Would, Too, Fix Our Trade Mess
Ian Fletcher Activist Post I and my employer, the Coalition for a Prosperous America, are unabashed protectionists. I have written previously about how, for example,…
No Need for Villains on the Trade Issue
Ian Fletcher Activist Post Judging by, among other things, the comments posted on articles about America’s trade mess, a lot of people are getting very…
Economists Shocked, Shocked: We Really Are Losing Jobs to China!
Ian Fletcher Activist Post There’s a nice new academic paper just out by an MIT economist and his friends that gives some hard data to…
The Theory That’s Killing America’s Economy—and Why It’s Wrong
Ian Fletcher Activist Post I wrote in a previous article how America’s disastrous embrace of free trade is ultimately based on a false theory of…
The Famous (and Almost Never Understood) Theory of Comparative Advantage
Ian Fletcher Activist Post You can read about the free trade controversy for months and never hear about it. But in the minds of real…
Why Public Support for Free Trade Will Collapse Soon
Ian Fletcher Activist Post For once, some good news: public support for free trade will almost certainly collapse over the next few years. On this…