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EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

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Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#331

Post by kolinko »

zeroname wrote: post #247
mrkstu wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which works fine until they own a monopoly to a business with high cost of entry and decide to raise prices again. Things like this are rarely simple.

That's basically the fallacy of predatory pricing. It doesn't work. Sure, you can raise prices after killing the competition, but only so far as to not revive the competition. Your price ends up as the fair market price . Cost of entry is irrelevant here, it's a cost like any other.

There are more things than price that can prevent competition from reappearing once it became extinguished.

If there is a constant threat of the prices being lowered again, it will be pointless to reinvest in restarting competition - the monopolist at any time can lower the prices back down.

Also, in some fields the monopolistic position gives network effects to the producer that cannot be replicated by an upstart, making a competition unlikely.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#332

Post by rsync »

ascar wrote: post #278
hinkley wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the weird, nearly constant cultural boundaries is fermented foods. I suspect even without the tariffs cheese will still be expensive in Japan. It doesn't really 'go' with a lot of the cuisine. I mean, if you handed me donburi with cheese in it I'd probably say, "Okay, that's weird but it could work so let me try it," but I'm wracking my brain trying to think what other dishes you could fit in it. Certainly eth…

Sushi goes very well with cream cheese added as part of the filling, e.g. Philadelphia roll. Pork Donburi with grated cheese on top, maybe Gauda, would be a great fit. Also possible for a Yakiniku bento. You could also use a cheese dip for Yakitori. That's basically also the dishes I eat most of the time. God, I'm getting homesick again. Food is such an essential part of feeling home and you only realize this once it…

"Sushi goes very well with cream cheese added as part of the filling, e.g. Philadelphia roll."

Your parent was talking about japanese food so this is a bit of a non-sequitur ...

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#333

Post by kolinko »

IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #194
growlist wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then there are also plenty of small and small-ish economies that haven't done so well from EU (particularly Euro) membership, aren't there?

Nope. Ireland has done excellent-it was the poorest country in Europe when they joined in the 1970s, today it’s among the top. Eastern and south-eastern countries had lines for bread when the USSR dissolved. Ten years later, they joined the EU. Today, life in Poland or Hungary is close to catching up with Western Europe. Greece had about the same GDP per capita as Turkey when they joined. Today, it’s closer to 3x Tur…

Being from Poland - absolutely true, I'm constantly amazed by how much the country accomplished, and how much the EU participation gave us. (Although Poland is not a small country the parent mentioned)

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#334

Post by webXL »

zeroname wrote: post #328
FabHK wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's one thing I find funny though about this argument (Econ 101, yet correct, yet complicated): The argument for free trade is an efficiency argument (comparative advantage, Ricardo, Hecksher-Ohlin yada yada) that it's unambiguously better, but it's predicated on redistribution: The reason that free trade is unambiguously better is that you can compensate all the "losers" of free trade so that they're as well off…

I don't know where you got this idea, but the argument for comparative advantage has nothing to do with the redistribution of income, nor is there a claim of "fairness" towards each and every individual or interest group. To understand why comparative advantage is an advantage, you must consider the alternative: Economic protectionism. It results in inefficient allocation of labor, because everyone's job is protected…

Perhaps the parent missed something in the yada yada.

I'm not sure why people fail to see the benefits of free trade and specialization in their own lives. Just imagine working all day long, out in field, just to put food on your own table! Why would it be a good idea for certain size groups and not others?

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#335

Post by ApolloFortyNine »

_bxg1 wrote: post #123
afrisch wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best part is that tree trade is not contradictory with setting standards! > For the first time, the trade agreement includes countries' Paris climate deal commitments. > The text also addresses sustainable development and sets standards for labor, safety, environmental and consumer protection.

For sure. These days it seems like Canada and mainland Europe are the last bastions of civilization.

This sounds like a bit of a hyperbole no?

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#336

Post by riffraff »

TorKlingberg wrote: post #22

Japan has avoided the madness of tariffs and trade wars that has affected the west recently. Instead they have been quietly negotiating trade deals with everyone and generally getting along. Good on them! Also it includes cheese, which will make westerners in Japan very happy.

is it really "the west"? AFAIK it's just "the US".

The EU also signed a trade deal lowering tariffs with Canada (CETA) last year.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#337

Post by riffraff »

jpatokal wrote: post #321
wahern wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno. Objectively speaking, cheese is pretty disgusting. I've eaten all kinds of things, including infamous items like balut, dog, stinky tofu, belacan, sheep brain, etc. I'm American and grew up with cheese and love cheese, but after having eaten all of those other things, you realize that the disgust factor of, say, a colorful, pungent chunk of blue cheese is exceptionally high. The smell, the texture, the mouth…

Not sure what's up with the downvotes here, since this is objectively correct. A Chinese friend of mine loves to regale listeners with tales of eating things consider outre even by famously expansive Cantonese standards (live mice etc), but he considers the idea of eating rotten, moldy cow lactations (blue cheese) to be beyond the pale.

you forgot the fact that it's coagulated using the insides of a calf's stomach!

(although depending on cheese, animal rennet may not be used)

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#338

Post by jayalpha »

TorKlingberg wrote: post #22

Japan has avoided the madness of tariffs and trade wars that has affected the west recently. Instead they have been quietly negotiating trade deals with everyone and generally getting along. Good on them! Also it includes cheese, which will make westerners in Japan very happy.

Based on my understanding of Asian tastes, it likely will still make cheese a rather rare and expensive product. So I advise caution with the happiness.

Reminds me of the guy who brought a shitload of blue cheese to Brazil and was surprised that he could not find it in his fridge anymore. Asking his domestica (household helper) she answered: Oh, yes, I threw it away. It was totally rotten!

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#339

Post by gardaani »

stefanfisk wrote: post #126
gardaani wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently I can order cheap products (less than 20€) from China without customs fees or VAT. The shipping cost is around 1€. It means that it is cheaper to buy from China than from my local store. Unfortunately, that is about to change soon (customs fees for all products from China). Having something like that between EU and Japan would definitely boost the trade. Edit: I just checked and the same no customs fees rul…

which country do you reside in?

Finland - here's the calculator for customs duties and VAT: https://tulli.fi/en/customs-duty-calculator

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#340

Post by riffraff »

kaybe wrote: post #300
max76 wrote: post #136

"For the first time, the trade agreement includes countries' Paris climate deal commitments." This is a brilliant answer to the tragedy of the commons. Often times people ask why they should make great efforts to be more environmentally friendly when other groups are not. This creates multiparty incentives attached to real economic benefits to keep their word on climate change. I hope The US, China, and Russia all en…

Here is some good news I found today: The Montreal protocol (to ban ozone-layer-destroying gas emissions) works quite well so far and also has implications for climate change: > As reported in the 2014 Assessment, chemistry–climate models suggest that continued accumulation of ODSs in the atmosphere in the absence of the Montreal Protocol would have led to a collapse of the global ozone layer by the mid-21st century,…

I _think_ a key difference between the montreal protocol and the paris agreement is that the first meant _banning products_, so a if country X keeps producing something with CFCs and tries to sell it to country Y then the latter can just forbid importing.

So individual actors have an economical incentive to be compliant.

This does not work for CO2 emissions, we're left to the individual countries' "goodwill".

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