French protectionists have no shame...

[Kuciwalker]

They really, really don't. China is has a booming domestic market and a booming industrial sector to match. They could close their borders and continue growing rapidly.

They'd run out of critical raw materials.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Maniac
The proposal was not to cut off the world, but to raise import taxes and encourage other countries to follow social & environmental rules. If they did that, the import taxes would become unnecessary.

Nice theory. The most likely outcome is a trade war where the EU ends up exporting very little to the rest of the world and the rest of the world ends up importing very little from the EU.

Both sides lose but the EU loses a lot more.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Normalize that graph to cover the period from 1997 to present (basically the period when they started negotiating the treat on wards) and EVERYONE will be up. Or atleast every country with a significant output would be up.

The Brits have decreased and continue to decrease. Other European countries have also decreased since the deal was signed.

Insert another quarter if you wish to play again.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Drogue
They really, really don't. China is has a booming domestic market and a booming industrial sector to match. They could close their borders and continue growing rapidly.

That's indeed kind of what I fear. That's it's already too late and we're all DOOMED!!!1!

The EU, on the other hand, relies upon China for a lot of its manufacturing. If trade ties were cut, the price of most manufactured goods would go up a lot, with the largest price rises on the cheapest goods (that have the most work done in developing countries).

Partly true of course, but what the economists believing in simplistic free trade theories always forget is that there exists something as unemployment. Free trade is only assured to be beneficial in countries where no employment exists. For the EU this is obviously not the case; there is lots of unemployment. As producing in the EU is no doubt more expensive than elsewhere, prices for certain products will rise and the middle class will suffer, but the former unemployed lower class people will now get an income and their consumption will rise. Btw, I'm sure prices would rise dramatically if stuff currently produced in China would be produced in NW Europe, but would this also be the case if the Chinastuff gets produced instead in Eastern Europe and other future EU candidates?? I don't see how this couldn't be beneficial to their economy. There are plenty of poor countries who would be jumping to take over low wage manufacturing (and in the case of the EU members and candidates: our rules).

[notyoueither]

Partly true of course, but what the economists believing in simplistic free trade theories always forget is that there exists something as unemployment. Free trade is only assured to be beneficial in countries where no [un]employment exists.

Huh?

[Kuciwalker]

Maniac should go study economics some more...

[KrazyHorse]

You should take that quarter off your waffles.

[Kuciwalker]

Sadly, the large version of the image disappeared off of google image search

[KrazyHorse]

I laughed for 10 minutes when you finally noticed I was asking you that question an awful lot.

[Kuciwalker]

It was pretty funny

[KrazyHorse]

You were so serious about it every time. "That's not a quarter; it's syrup. Here's the original image at full size"

[Kuciwalker]

And now it's gone

[KrazyHorse]

Sometimes I'd be driving home from work and I'd think to myself "I'm going to wind Kuci up about his avatar when I get in front of my computer". I never told anybody about it. It was our special little game.

[Kuciwalker]

Awwww, that's so sweet

[KrazyHorse]

Come here and let uncle Matthew hold you.

You're over 18, right?