Sunday Quick Hits

Lots going on over the last week, and I'm traveling today, so let's just get right to it:

• Economist Ray Fair explains in detail why he believes that RMB appreciation will be a net negative for the US economy.

• Ever wonder why so many politicians campaign with impunity against free trade in Democrat primaries?  Well, this fun new survey suggests that they're just playing to their target audience. (Snicker snicker.)

• Chinese officials assert that American legislation (or administrative action) to attack China's currency policies through US anti-subsidy laws would violate WTO rules.  As I've already noted, they are probably right.

• In one quick little blog post, Paul Krugman finally admits that (a) he doesn't understand global trade rules; and (b) he just doesn't care about them.  Krugman disregarding the rule of law?  Shocking, I know!  Of course, he could've read this helpful blog entry and saved himself the embarrassment.

• The Bush Institute's Jim Glassman hosts an interesting video debate on "Doubling Exports - Rhetoric or Reeality?" between Cato's Dan Ikenson and Public Citizen's Lori Wallach.

• Speaking of Ikenson, he provides the "Charts of the Week" - maybe even the month - which clearly and concisely demonstrate just how critical import competition is for American families and businesses.

• And then Ikenson's colleague Dan Griswold unpacks the most recent US trade data to explain how - assuming you're a sane, apolitical person (I know, I know) - the stats argue against attacking China's currency.

• More on ObamaCare and America's global competitiveness: here's a handy listing of all the US companies that have announced tax hits (and the amount of the hit) because of the new US healthcare law.  Ouch.

• The Peterson Institute's Gary Hufabauer and Theodore Moran explain how the recently-passed American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act will destroy American jobs and hobble US exports.  They show that the legislation's "tax measures would cost $14 billion over 10 years for the foreign operations of US-based multinational corporations."  Awful.

• And speaking of awful American fiscal policy, Art Laffer explains how the seemingly-inevitable tax increases in 2011 (when the Bush tax cuts expire) will crush any US economic recovery, while Mark Calabria shows that Obamanomics is already doing a number on the struggling US labor market.  Oh, goody.

• Finally, the Atlas Institute's Tom Palmer explains free trade in under 3 minutes in the following video.  A little basic for readers of this blog, but a nice thing to share with family/friends who don't obsess about this stuff like I do.