To follow up on Bob Greene`s article on ”Buy American” consumerism, and John Scortino`s presumed knowledge of economics (Voice, Jan. 26), I would like to add a few more words.
First, a free market does not necessarily make the domestic industry in the long run more competitive. A review of the history of the world automobile industry would show that free markets enable foreign competition to make a weak domestic industry go out of business in the long run.
To take the case of the British automobile industry, which went out of business (save for high-end, low-sales firms like Jaguar and Rolls-Royce) many years ago, a Japanese trade minister was once asked, ”How come you sell so many cars in Britain?” His answer: ”It`s the easiest market to enter.” Free markets can kill domestic industries.
Second, if a free market is so good for the domestic industry, how come the Japanese domestic industry is so strong and their market so unfree?
