Originally Posted by
OngBonga
It's not about patriotism and I'm not talking about paying twice as much. It's simple economics. The weaker pound makes it more expensive to import. If it costs 10% more to import, or 5% more to buy British, then it makes economic sense to buy British. And if a company pays 5% more than it otherwise would have done, but 100% of that capital stays in Britain instead of going to China, Britian wins, even if the company has to lay off 2% of its workforce to balance the books.
I'm obviously pulling numbers out of my arse here, but you're mistaking the point if you think this is about buying British out of patriotic pride. I'm simply talking about a net economic benefit.
And yes protectionism jacks up prices. In the case of tariffs, it jacks up import prices. So don't import. If you're paying 20p more for a kilo of apples because we're no longer importing them, well you're 20p out of pocket but a British company is maybe £2.20 better off. So now they can employ more people, and expand. If that continues, they become more competetive and the price should come down.
So any personal financial loss is short-term, while the national economic benefit is long-term.
More capital stays in Britian. That is obviously a net benefit to the economy.
And if there was a shortage of plumbers, well more people would train to be plumbers. That's because businesses would offer apprenticeships. I certainly would if I were seeking a plumber for my business and was struggling to fill the vacancy. If a Polish man was skilled and available, I probably wouldn't offer that apprenticeship because I don't need to. Why train someone when there's someone already trained?
Wuf is right about the EU. It doesn't make economies better. We're going to see this in the coming years. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'm no economist. But you poop talk about protectionism hurting prices. Well the EU is the biggest protectionist entity in the world.