Have the British finally got it?
I am beginning to think that maybe we have:
"I am now going to ask you about freer trade, that is to say making it easier to buy and sell products internationally by reducing tariffs and other barriers to trade. (PROMPT only if needed: ‘Barriers to trade’ include taxes on imports – called tariffs – and limits on imports). Which of the following two statements about freer trade comes closest to your view?"
"I am in favour of freer trade" - 84%
"I am not in favour of freer trade" - 13%
And guess which country is bottom of the class, and apparently still wedded to Colbertian Mercantilism? The French. In favour - 37%, against - 63%
And there's more:
Remove all remaining tariffs on goods traded between [The US and the EU]
UK pro - 70%, France pro - 50%, US pro - 48%
And less encouragingly:
Freer trade costs more (NATIONALITY) jobs than it creates
Only in Germany does a majority disagree. The split in the UK was 42% for and 43% anti. 59% of polled Gauls agreed....
Freer trade leads to lower prices and more product choices for consumers
The Poles, have been at the sharp end not so very long ago get it: 80%. As do 77% of Britons, and 62% of the French.
Freer trade makes the world more stable by putting people from different countries in contact with each other
Poland - 81%, UK - 75%, France - 55%. Shades of the Golden Arches and Dell theories of conflict prevention. The former is well known, the latter less so: "The Dell Theory stipulates: No two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell’s, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain".
Another oddity:
"Lowering trade barriers between [European Union: the European Union/US: the US] and Africa could address modern threats like unstable states and poverty". France and the UK - 78% pro. The Slovaks come last at 44%.
And the most depressing of the lot:
"The European Union and the U.S. government provide billions...in support for domestic agriculture. In your opinion, which of the following should be the top priority when providing domestic agriculture support?
I do not believe government should support agriculture (SPONTANEOUS): Poland, Slovakia, UK - 1%, US 2%.
There's a lot more available at the German Marshall Fund's site.
"I am now going to ask you about freer trade, that is to say making it easier to buy and sell products internationally by reducing tariffs and other barriers to trade. (PROMPT only if needed: ‘Barriers to trade’ include taxes on imports – called tariffs – and limits on imports). Which of the following two statements about freer trade comes closest to your view?"
"I am in favour of freer trade" - 84%
"I am not in favour of freer trade" - 13%
And guess which country is bottom of the class, and apparently still wedded to Colbertian Mercantilism? The French. In favour - 37%, against - 63%
And there's more:
Remove all remaining tariffs on goods traded between [The US and the EU]
UK pro - 70%, France pro - 50%, US pro - 48%
And less encouragingly:
Freer trade costs more (NATIONALITY) jobs than it creates
Only in Germany does a majority disagree. The split in the UK was 42% for and 43% anti. 59% of polled Gauls agreed....
Freer trade leads to lower prices and more product choices for consumers
The Poles, have been at the sharp end not so very long ago get it: 80%. As do 77% of Britons, and 62% of the French.
Freer trade makes the world more stable by putting people from different countries in contact with each other
Poland - 81%, UK - 75%, France - 55%. Shades of the Golden Arches and Dell theories of conflict prevention. The former is well known, the latter less so: "The Dell Theory stipulates: No two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell’s, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain".
Another oddity:
"Lowering trade barriers between [European Union: the European Union/US: the US] and Africa could address modern threats like unstable states and poverty". France and the UK - 78% pro. The Slovaks come last at 44%.
And the most depressing of the lot:
"The European Union and the U.S. government provide billions...in support for domestic agriculture. In your opinion, which of the following should be the top priority when providing domestic agriculture support?
I do not believe government should support agriculture (SPONTANEOUS): Poland, Slovakia, UK - 1%, US 2%.
There's a lot more available at the German Marshall Fund's site.
Labels: Sane economics, surveys
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 06, 2007 at 11:26 am.
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I do not believe government should support agriculture (SPONTANEOUS): Poland, Slovakia, UK - 1%, US 2%.
To be fair, I assume that the "SPONTANEOUS" means that it was not one of the presented choices, and that this covers people who, when presented a list of options and asked which should be the top priority, decided to "break the rules" by choosing the unsolicited "NONE OF THE ABOVE." No word on how many people might have chosen that option if it were presented. Someone could easily oppose subsidies but decide from the wording of the question that certain ones were the least worst option.
John - Fair point. I posed the question to another blogger who will remain nameless, but who shares my world outlook etc, and it was only with prompting that he got the 'right' answer.
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