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In Praise of Hard Industries

by Eamon Fingleton

I lost my original review of this work decades ago. This is a fairly well-reasoned pro-manufacturing book, and Fingleton's work omits many good points it could have made: good trade policies strive for just and balanced trade. Countries that practice mercantilism should be avoided as trade partners. Mercantilism benefits the parasitic, mass destructive financial industry, plus retailers in importing countries and manufacturers in exporting nations. Non-wealthy workers in most nations suffer. Importing countries have shortfalls in supply and demand because of trade deficits, oligarchical power, and low worker wages. Paradoxically, trade surplus countries also suffer low wages and too damn low demand because of global oligarchical power. Part of this is because of the counterintuitive accounting identity explained by Dean Baker in numerous articles. Countries with large trade deficits have no choice but to have large Federal budget deficits or private debts or both. Large private debts cause financial tumors, also known as bubbles. Mercantilism also causes dependency on the mercantilist country, which is terrible, especially during crises. Traitors choose to be dependent on totalitarian countries. Not surprisingly, Paul Krugman, he of colossally inaccurate and over simplistic models, dismissed this work with a small sample, straw person attack by pointing out that cigarette manufacturing is a hard industry. Avoid reading Fingleton's more recent writings. They are terrible.

—Article review by JT Fournier, last updated August 8th, 2023

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