by Ray Keating
The Keating Files – January 5, 2021
(Editor’s Note: Much damage has been inflicted on conservatism, conservative thought, and the conservative movement in recent years. The effort to heal and rebuild conservatism promises to be a difficult, but necessary undertaking. The Keating Files will regularly weigh in to help that process. This is our third “Rebuilding Conservatism” column.)
Whether you call it “free enterprise,” “capitalism,” or “free markets,” conservatives once understood that free enterprise stood as a foundational institution of conservatism.
Why? An economic system rooted in freedom, particularly, the freedom to own and improve upon private property, to seize upon or create opportunities, to innovate, to create, to invest, to start up and build businesses, and whether an entrepreneur, employee or shareholder, to serve the needs and demands of others, ranks as the greatest means for economic and income growth, wealth creation and raising people out of poverty. It is a system not subject to political whims, but instead, governed and disciplined by competition, the rule of law, and, ultimately, consumers.
Tragically, as evidenced by an assortment of anti-free-enterprise and pro-government-action policies endorsed or advanced by assorted so-called “conservatives,” the need for some lessons in economics is vital.
This is the first of those lessons on our free enterprise system, and it deals with free trade and protectionism – an area where various “conservatives” have gone far stray. The following “Free Enterprise in Three Minutes” podcasts provide quick but essential lessons on how trade works, why protectionism is costly and destructive, why free trade matters, and more. Take a listen to the following 12 short sessions, as a first step in a series of lessons on key topics related to free enterprise, the economy and conservatism.
1. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #2: Free Trade Rocks. What is free trade, and why does it rock?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/649162-episode-2-free-trade-rocks
2. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #3: Protectionism Sucks. Protectionism doesn’t work. It’s costly, hurting consumers, workers and U.S. businesses. And there’s nothing fair about it.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/651383-episode-3-protectionism-sucks
3. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #4: Real Deal on Trade Deficits. Is a trade deficit truly bad for our economy? Ray Keating sums up why the trade deficit is not an economic negative. Keating also notes that imports aren’t negatives, either. https://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/656803-episode-4-the-real-deal-on-the-trade-deficit
4. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #19: Mercantilism – Wrong in the 18th Century, Wrong Today. Ray Keating looks at mercantilism and international trade, and explains why it made no sense in the 18th century, and it makes no sense today.
5. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #23: Trade, Investment and the Balance of Payments. Ray Keating looks at trade and international investment courtesy of the balance of payments. Keating explains the current account, the capital account, and more, and sums up that the U.S. runs a capital account surplus because it’s an attractive place to invest.
http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/860172-episode-23-trade-investment-and-the-balance-of-payments
6. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #39: Trump and Trade: Politics, Not Economics, Part I: Trade Deficits. Ray Keating kicks off a series of podcasts looking at President Donald Trump on trade from an economics perspective. This first entry notes that the President’s main assumption about trade deficits being economic negatives makes no economic sense.
7. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #40: Trump and Trade: Politics, Not Economics, Part II: Losing Wealth? Ray Keating lays out the economic realities of how trade actually works, and how trade fuels economic growth. These economic points run contrary to the assumptions that President Trump has about trade and wealth.
8. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #41: Trump and Trade: Politics, Not Economics, Part III: Who Pays Tariffs? Contrary to claims by President Trump, Ray Keating makes clear that U.S. consumers and businesses pay for the tariffs imposed on imports from nations like China. And Keating looks at the various costs imposed by those tariffs.
9. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #42: Trump and Trade: Politics, Not Economics, Part IV: Lost Businesses and Jobs? Ray Keating corrects mistaken notions espoused by President Trump about supposed lost jobs and businesses due to trade accords like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA. Instead, one key aspect of how free trade deals benefit the U.S. is the fact that other nations usually have much higher trade barriers than the U.S. does.
10. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #48: Yes, Free Trade Rocks! Ray Keating talks about his book - FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW – and explains why a book is needed to provide a straightforward, highly readable explanation of key points, concepts and facts regarding the actual economics of trade, and to serve as a contrast to the mistaken and sometimes misleading statements on trade served up in both politics and the media.
http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/1878242-episode-48-yes-free-trade-rocks
11. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #49: The Problem with the Language and Numbers on Trade. Based on his book - FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW – Ray Keating identifies two key factors that create confusion on international trade – the language of trade and the trade numbers that focused on overwhelmingly.
12. Free Enterprise in Three Minutes with Ray Keating – Episode #50: The Morality of Free Trade. Based on his book - FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW – Ray Keating talks about the morality of free trade.
http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/2381912-episode-50-the-morality-of-free-trade
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Other articles in the Rebuilding Conservatism Series…
“Rebuilding Conservatism #2: Free Trade Rocks and Protectionism Sucks”
“Rebuilding Conservatism #1: What is Conservatism?”
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Ray Keating is a columnist, novelist, economist, podcaster and entrepreneur. His new book Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York from Amazon or signed books at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know.
One of the best ways to enjoy Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries is to join the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship! For the BEST VALUE, consider the Book of the Month Club. Check it all out at https://www.patreon.com/pastorstephengrantfellowship
Also, tune in to Ray Keating’s podcasts – the PRESS CLUB C Podcast and the Free Enterprise in Three Minutes Podcast
Check out Ray Keating’s Disney news and entertainment site at www.DisneyBizJournal.com.
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