FREE TRADE ROCKS! Explains What Everyone Should Know about International Trade

Ray Keating Explores How Free Trade Benefits People Throughout the Nation, Around the World and Across Income Levels 

Long Island, NY –While free trade has come under attack, Ray Keating lays out in clear, simple fashion the benefits of free trade and the ills of protectionism in FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW.

Purchase the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon.com.

Signed books are available.

Tapping into his experiences as an economist, policy analyst, newspaper and online columnist, entrepreneur, and college professor, who taught MBA courses on international business and entrepreneurship, Keating explores and explains in straightforward fashion 10 key points or areas that everyone - from entrepreneurs and executives to students and employees to politicians and taxpayers - needs to understand about how trade works and how free trade generates benefits for people across towns, the nation and international borders.

The 10 points or areas covered in FREE TRADE ROCKS! are...

Point 1: Do People "Get It" on Free Trade?

Point 2: Economics 101 on Trade

Point 3: Debunking Trade Myths

Point 4: Trade and the U.S. Economy

Point 5: Trading Partners

Point 6: Trade and Small Business

Point 7: Ills of Protectionism

Point 8: Brief History of Free Trade Deals

Point 9: The Morality of Free Trade

Point 10: The Future of Trade

Keating makes clear that nations don't trade. Instead, businesses and individuals trade, and free trade is simply about expanding the freedom to trade by reducing or eliminating governmental costs and restrictions.

Regarding FREE TRADE ROCKS!, Dan Mitchell, Chairman of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, declares, “A common-sense explanation of why politicians and bureaucrats shouldn't throw sand in the gears of global trade.”

And Self-Publishing Review gives FREE TRADE ROCKS! four stars, and says: “International trade policy has come to the forefront of global politics, making FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW by Ray Keating a timely and fascinating read for a suddenly curious demographic. Keating manages to bring this seemingly dull subject to accessible life with real-world examples often torn straight from recent headlines, along with a comprehensive and (mostly) impartial view on the topic. As the exclamatory title suggests, Keating is a fan of free trade, but his deep expertise spanning a wide range of subjects and career paths makes this book an engaging, informative, and essential read for those who want to weigh in on this hot-button issue."

Also, George Leef, the Director of Research at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, observes, “Ever since Donald Trump started talking about foreign trade, I have thought that what the country needs is a clear, easily understood book that explains why the government should not mess with free trade. Lo and behold, Ray Keating has written exactly that book. FREE TRADE ROCKS!clears away the myths and misconceptions that trade interventionists count on.”

Beyond a general readership interested in our economy, FREE TRADE ROCKS! is ideal for the classroom, boardroom and workplace.

Paperbacks and Kindle edition available at Amazon.com.

Review copies, and author interviews and appearances are available upon request. 

Contact: Ray Keating

Phone: 631-909-1122

E-mail:raykeating@keatingreports.com

Facebook:www.facebook.com/freeenterpriseeconomics

Twitter: @FreeEnterprise7

FreeEnterpriseEconomics.com

RayKeatingOnline.com

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Ugly Trade Policy Means Things Could Get Ugly for U.S. Businesses, Including Disney

by Ray Keating

Analysis/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 10, 2019

Trade – indeed, free trade – matters. It matters to American consumers. It matters to U.S. businesses and their workers. And it matters to the Walt Disney Company.

In an August 2018 article, DisneyBizJournal.com gave a rundown on trade, and why protectionist measures – imposed and threatened – are negatives for the U.S. economy, and for Disney. As we noted:

History and economics make clear that advancing free trade makes for sound policymaking. The way to deal with China, for example, and its challenges is not to hurt U.S. consumers and businesses with tariffs and a trade war, but instead to constructively engage with the Chinese in an effort to work toward a free trade agreement.

So, protectionism is a wildcard working against sustained strong economic growth. And it certainly is troubling for a company like Disney. Obviously, any barriers to and reductions in trade will hurt The Walt Disney Company given its sizeable international footprint. 

Indeed, near the start of the Trump administration, Disney CEO Robert Iger warned, “An all-out trade war with China would be damaging to Disney’s business and to business in general. It’s something I think we have to be very careful about.”

And if a trade war expands, it must be recognized that U.S. intellectual property industries, including the entertainment business, rank among our top exporters, and could come to be a target of retaliation. In addition, Disney will be hurt at home due to increased costs resulting from U.S. tariffs.

Unfortunately, things just seem to keep getting uglier in terms of trade policy, with the latest problem being President Trump’s increasing tariffs on a wide array of goods coming from China from 10% to 25%, with threats of more tariffs (i.e., taxes on imports) being imposed.

Politicians often make silly statements about free trade, how trade works, and tariffs – either out of ignorance, due to political pandering, or both. But during much of the post-World-War-II era, the U.S. fortunately led the globe toward reducing government barriers that raise costs for individuals and businesses to trade across borders. However, that started to change during the Obama administration, with the U.S. sitting on the trade sidelines during much of President Obama’s time in office, and then the U.S. turning hostile toward freer trade under President Trump.

Moments like these point to the reason why I originally became an economist, and why, much more recently, I started doing the “Free Enterprise in Three Minutes Podcast.” Following are episodes dealing with trade. Please take a few minutes to listen, and if you see value, please pass on to others, including any politicians you might know.

Link to the general “Free Enterprise in Three Minutes Podcast” page.

http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969

And here are direct links to trade topics...

Free Trade Rocks!

http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/649162-episode-2-free-trade-rocks

Protectionism Sucks!

http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/651383-episode-3-protectionism-sucks

The Real Deal on the Trade Deficit

http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/656803-episode-4-the-real-deal-on-the-trade-deficit

Mercantilism – Wrong in the 18th Century, Wrong Today

http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/820421-episode-19-mercantilism-wrong-in-the-18th-century-wrong-today

Trade, Investment and the Balance of Payments

http://www.buzzsprout.com/155969/860172-episode-23-trade-investment-and-the-balance-of-payments

In the end, the protectionist agenda of the Trump administration ironically works directly against the administration’s tax and regulatory policies. Namely, while the tax and regulatory policies have been pro-growth – by reducing governmental burdens on entrepreneurs, businesses and workers – the Trump trade agenda has been explicitly anti-growth by increasing such burdens.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels, with three books - Reagan Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, Heroes and Villains: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story and Shifting Sands: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story – published in 2018. In addition, the second edition of Warrior Monk: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel was published in January 2019. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.