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September 05, 2005

Mercantilism

We’re in bigger trouble than I thought.

Sir Digby Jones, the CBI's director-general, said: "The UK has nothing to fear from free two-way trade and investment and everything to gain. We do not export enough to China or India - only 1pc of our exports at present - this must improve."

I can understand (although still rage against) politicians who don’t understand trade. They are, after all, politicians. But you’d rather hope that the head of the CBI would know what he’s talking about.

Bilateral trade numbers don’t matter a damn. The portion of our exports going to China and India is entirely irrelevant. We are only interested in two things.

1) Buying the best and the cheapest from wherever in the world it comes.

2) Exporting enough of anything to be able to pay for it.

That’s it. All else is nonsense. And yes, the logic works for individuals, neighbourhoods, counties, countries and continents.

September 5, 2005 in Trade | Permalink

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» Digby Jones is a buffoon from Blithering Bunny
Ill try to elaborate tomorrow (using these stainless-steel public urinals masquerading as Sky News-provided internet conference booths). But we now know why hes so bad as DG of the CBI (or whatever the hell he is), and why so many free m... [Read More]

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Comments

Is the CBI a business, or a political organisation?

In my book, "the director-general of the CBI" is no more a businessman than the secretary-general of the TGWU is a car worker - they're both politicians.

Posted by: Andrew McGuinness | Sep 5, 2005 10:00:50 AM

Digby has proved time and again that he knows next to f*ck all about business and economic policy. Makes the FSB look like a bunch of einsteins, so he does.

Posted by: Angry Economist | Sep 5, 2005 12:02:26 PM