Quote:
Originally Posted by Millennium3
If Britain were situated just off China and there was some similar 'EU' type organisation for the surrounding countries with an immense work force prepared to work very hard for next to nothing - would you have the same free market views - even if it meant the standard of living for the Brits was reduced to an equivalent level?
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Of course! Our nation, with free trade, would have access to a huge market of very cheap materials. We could build a massive manufacturing and service base out of this. If we are trading with this huge nation, our nation will have cheap products and the wealth of the nation we are trading with will rise. If you think both nations will decline, then you don't understand the capitalist system.
Japan employed free trade not so long ago (it doesn't have it anymore). It was next to China, it grew to become the second largest economy in the world as a result.
You do realise, that in order for a company, such as Nissan, to make the profits it does, it has to sell to wealthy Japanese workers. It is not in the collective interest of companies to harm their resident economies... Also, these companies will keep their headquarters in their home nation, due to free trade allowances, which are not available in an EU-like situation.
Japan has built a powerful service and manufacturing center, even with China nearby. The main difference being, China does not have free trade.
Hong Kong did it too and still does do it (it has the freest economy in the world). Next to massive China, Hong Kong has no problem.
Furthermore, you cannot pick and choose - you cannot apply capitalist principles in an EU-like situation, because if there is an EU-like situation, capitalism just does not exist.
Finally, the UK is not next to China. Capitalism can and will work in the real world, hypothetical nations don't disprove that. If we use thought experiments to create fictitious nations we can disprove almost any social or economic theory. We could argue against drug legalisation by making a nation where 90% of the population are already on drugs. The focus is not what might be the case, but what is the case.