Today's Washington Post and why libertarians fear Dems

[Copernicus]

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A question for Copernicus and Iron:

Let's say that the United States cuts off trade with foreign countries. All products are domestically produced.

Some states become wealthier/poorer than others. Let's say New York becomes very wealthy, and most of the manufacturing jobs in the United States are shipped off to the heartland where the businesses can find people to work for lower wages. New York gets goods cheaper than they'd be able to get had they been produced in that state, but they have almost no manufacturing industry. Jobs are being exported to Kansas and the quality of life in New York is going down.

Should New York be lobbied into severing manufacturing trade with other states? How is this situation any different than the global economic situation?

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What good would it do to have NY sever trade with other states? They would then rebuild their manufacturing capacity to provide the goods that their market demands. Service companies locate/relocate in the areas where there services are demanded, which is where there is a concentration of companies, people and money, but they are far less mobile than manufactured goods which can be shipped relatively easily.

There is little difference between inter-state and international commerce other than the external costs of shipping, language barriers, currency risk, and political risk.