Quote Originally Posted by nynco View Post
Freedman is a moron in my opinion. His book the Olive and the Lexus is the best example. He failed to mention that Lexus was built up through trade protection and gov programs that ensured they would grow. Not from freemarket forces alone.

Cut and paste from an article written by Thom Hartmann.

Another great example of this is Toyota's success with their luxury car: Lexus. Toyota has been touted by free traders as a clear example of why free trade works, mostly because of the widely cited example outlined in Thomas Freidman's book The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

But again, at a closer look, the reality is the opposite of what Friedman naively portrays in his book. In fact, Japan subsidized Toyota not only in its development but even after if failed terribly in the American markets in the late 1950's. In addition, early in Toyota's development, Japan kicked out foreign competitors like GM.

Thus, because the Japanese government financed Toyota at a loss (for roughly 20 years), built high tariff and other barriers to competitive imports, and initially subsidized exports, auto manufacturing was able to get a strong foothold and we now think of Japanese exports being synonymous with automobiles.

Obama Drinks Friedman's Kool-Aid
I feel that if you insult/demean people it would be best you use their real names