Today the Canadian Autoworkers Union seconded Layton’s “buy Canadian” idea. Honestly, has our country gone mad? Harper (being the only economist among our country’s leaders) sees like anyone who has taken Econ 101 should: long into the future. I understand that people are worried about themselves as Canadians, but what about the future of our economy and its relationship with the rest of the trading world? This would no doubt instigate a trade war among the most powerful nations, and we would all lose dramatically. The bulk of our goods are imported, and the bulk of what we create is exported. We survive off of commodities (particularly oil, at over 50% alone), and if other nations decide to drop trade relations for, say, our commodities, we would not survive.
Just as a reminder, the Smoot-Harley Tariff Act was signed into law on June 17, 1930. This act raised tariffs on thousands of imports to record levels in order to promote domestic products. Economist after economist opposed this legislation, and many countries retaliated by doing the same thing. Naturally, imports and exports decreased by more than half. This act is argued to have instigated the Great Depression. It’s no wonder why our economist Prime Minister is against such legislation. History has taught us, and some important people haven’t learned from it.
