Earlier quoted context omitted.
>For a EU citizen buying from Italy, Greece, or Spain makes more sense than buying from Morocco because it's far more likely that a weaker local EU economy will negatively affect their country or the EU than a weak Moroccan economy. No. You are implying that buying locally strengthens the domestic economy whereas importing weakens the domestic economy. That reasoning is flawed as a general principle (even though it m…
> No. You are implying that buying locally strengthens the domestic economy whereas importing weakens the domestic economy The more customers local businesses lose in favor of off-shore producers the weaker they get, to the point where they disappear or become importers. If you're an EU citizen you're more likely to be impacted if another EU country's economy isn't going well than if Morocco's economy suffers. One th…
Yes, that is a possibility and it happens all the time. But what are some possible outcomes for the economy as a whole?
a) Domestic producers improve productivity and standards so they can compete with lower wages elsewhere.
b) Domestic producers move up the value chain importing lower value goods and services.
c) The domestic economy declines while a foreign one rises.
Your economic model only allows for c while some combination of a and b has been the basis for our economic progress and prosperity. That's why I disagree with you.
Your morals/pity accusation is a misunderstanding predicated on your assumption that importing goods we could produce ourselves hurts our economy. As I do not agree with that assumption, it follows that morals or pity couldn't possibly have been my motivation for bringing up migration.
My motivation for bringing it up was that trading with these countries is an opportunity to act in our mutual interest. It can benefit both sides and it is an opportunity to do what keeps getting repeated every time we have a migration crisis: Improve living standards in our neighboring regions. We shouldn't waste this opportunity based on some flawed mercantilist economic model.