Earlier quoted context omitted.
First of all, where's the evidence of these supposed high-entry monopolies? Seems more like a thought experiment to me. Secondly, you're only looking at the negative consequences for some workers. You're not looking at the benefit to all workers, who pay lower prices as result of cheaper labor from abroad. Suppose workers had been guaranteed their jobs for life because of protectionist policies. This is called mercan…
Have you tried producing and assembling electronics in the west? You don't have shops to buy parts anymore, you don't have assembly lines anymore, you don't have people trained in this anymore. If China decided tomorrow to increase the costs of the electronics they export, you'd have to accept that. Apple tried their best to move even some assembly back to the US, and couldn't even get the simplest custom screws made…
Of course not, U.S. labor is far too expensive to do the kind of menial work required to assemble electronics, unless maybe it's a repair shop for certain products.
> You don't have shops to buy parts anymore, you don't have assembly lines anymore, you don't have people trained in this anymore.
You don't need "local shops" to purchase parts for assembly lines. Ask Elon Musk if the biggest challenge in building an assembly line is procuring the parts, he will say: No. You have a worldwide integrated economy where you can buy basically anything. The number one challenge is labor cost.
In any event, training people for electronics assembly is trivial. If you can take apart an iPhone and put it back together, you're good.
> If China decided tomorrow to increase the costs of the electronics they export, you'd have to accept that.
"China" doesn't decide the costs of electronics, individual businesses do. But even if China was dumb enough to slap tariffs on their own exports, there are plenty of alternatives. There is no monopoly. In fact, China is doing the exact opposite: They are artificially lowering the value of their currency to stay competitive.
You should also really look into how electronics are actually produced, there are numerous countries involved in it, each specialized into particular parts:
http://www.worldstopexports.com/electronic-circuit-component...
> It's not just a single monopoly, the problem is that entire industries are gone, and it'd take decades to train workers and regain the institutional knowledge.
Actually, a lot of institutional knowledge remains with the companies that just use labor abroad. However, it also leaks into the domestic industry, that's why you have a lot of companies complaining about "IP theft" from China.
The broader point remains: There is no monopoly. There is plenty of competition. Even if for a "relatively" short period of time (decades) there where to exist a monopoly, it could only sustain its higher prices for so long as it stays unprofitable to rebuild that infrastructure. At that point the "monopoly pricing" becomes "fair pricing".
> In our household, we're now spending 71% of our budget on rent and utilities.
You should probably look into what building regulation (artificial scarcity) does to the price of rent. You can't blame free trade for that.
> Under more protectionist policies, I might pay 20% more for products, but I'd also be making 20% more wages — and as result, I'd be better off (in fact, my disposable income after rent, utilities and food would almost triple)
First of all, why do you assume that rent and utilities would not rise in tandem with the cost of goods? Why do you believe rent in Silicon Valley is so high? It's the scarcity combined with the high wages of the tech workers.
Secondly, you are losing your competitive advantage. You are worse off.