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The Free-trade myth considers only the price of an item instead of the impact of said item upon the community as a whole. In times past, the community could take into account whether automating a feature would put a person out of business, or bringing in lower-priced goods from another country would make it harder for those in the town to operate. Tariffs were a major source of revenue and protecting the businesses in one’s own country.
This line of thinking all went away when people saw how much money could be generated by sourcing goods at lower cost, eliminating reuse and repair, and causing those that were in business to fold– unable to keep up with the cheap competition. This mindset also brings with it the idea that we can add as many people to an economy and it is better for the economy. Only that’s not really the case.
Migrants took €17 billion more out of the Dutch welfare state than they contributed on average, every year, for a quarter of a century.
The idea that immigration “is good for the economy” is based on a false assumption and an incomplete equation. Moving every single person from China would “increase US GDP” too, but it most certainly would not be good for the economy. Or for the people who are already resident in the USA.
At around $20 billion per year for the Netherlands, that indicates an annual net loss of around $300 billion in the USA.
Not So Good for the Economy
The question is, do we actually care about our people or just money?
