The United States has spent the last half century-plus engaging in a titanic amount of very stupid policies.
Plan-by-plan, decision-by-decision – we have been outsourcing our prosperity to the rest of the planet.
Trade policy, tax policy, regulatory policy,… – we have spent decades going out of our way to be as dumb as possible in as many ways as possible. Making the US a less attractive place to do business than…anywhere else on the planet.
Now-President Donald Trump has been correct about this – for decades.
Trump On Trade Wars With China, U.S. Allies: ‘We’ve Been the Stupid Country for So Many Years’
Trump: Tax Cuts Will Restore U.S. Competitive Edge
President Donald Trump Says He Can Cut Regulations by 75 Percent
If we continue to beat you about the head and shoulders with a bat – we should at least have the decency to not act surprised when you get up and leave.
And we want to help not just American employers – but American employees. There being exponentially more of the latter, after all.
Keeping American employers here – helps American employees. So does limiting the American employee competition…to American employees.
Now-President Donald Trump has been correct about this too.
Yes, Immigration Hurts American Workers
How Trump’s Border Policies Are Boosting Wage Growth
Meanwhile, the planet is sailing fully into the Information Economy. Where – even more than ever – ideas are driving things economics. The intangible – continues to more fully eclipse the tangible. The Mind – continues to more fully eclipse the Body.
If the US is to rely on the Intellect – and in the Information Economy, it must – it must guarantee protection of the Intellectual Property IP) our Intellects generate.
Unfortunately, the US spent the entirety of the Barack Obama Administration strip mining US IP protections.
Of all the very many Obama messes Trump inherited – this is almost inarguably the most important one to get clean.
The Obama Administration did everything it unilaterally could to undermine IP protections. Including joining the very stupid global notion that punishing patent holders as monopolies was a good idea.
Let’s be clear here: Patents ARE monopolies. Per the Constitution:
“To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;”
Emphasis ours. If only you can use something – i.e. you have “exclusive Right” to it – you are a monopoly. Punishing patent holders for being a monopoly – is like punishing Shaquille O’Neal for being tall.
But the Obama Administration – did it anyway.
(Obama Federal Trade Commission) FTC Accuses Qualcomm of Smartphone Chip Monopoly – January 17, 2017
The Obama Administration – was gleefully following the lead of…Communist China.
China Fines Qualcomm Record $975M in Anti-Monopoly Case – February 10, 2015
And South Korea.
South Korea Slaps Qualcomm with Record-Setting $850M Fine – December 28, 2016
And much of the rest of the planet – gleefully followed the Obama Administration.
Taiwan Fines Qualcomm for $774 Million in Relation to Monopoly Abuse – October 12, 2017
Qualcomm Has to Pay €1 Billion Fine to the EU for Monopoly Payments – January 24, 2018
And speaking of all of this…no nation has been more enthusiastically insourcing our outsourced prosperity – than Communist China.
No nation has been more enthusiastically using the newfound, ever-expanding wealth the US keeps handing them…to hamstring and undermine the US – than Communist China.
To wit: No nation has taken greater advantage of our very stupid IP policy – than Communist China.
How Much Has the US Lost from China’s IP Theft?:
“The United States Trade Representative, which led the seven-month investigation into China’s intellectual property theft and made recommendations to the Trump administration, found that ‘Chinese theft of American IP currently costs between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.’
“Those numbers are in line with a 2017 report from the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property.”
“Between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.” For DECADES. TENS OF TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS. About which the US did…NOTHING.
Now-President Donald Trump has been correct about this too.
Trump’s Next Trade Target: China’s IP Theft
And Trump’s calling China on its IP theft – is working.
China Admits for the First Time that US Officials ‘Have a Point’ on IP Theft and Hacking
Unfortunately, the Obama Administration’s very stupid IP policies – were very stupidly outsourcing IP creation.
Intellectual Property Crisis: U.S. Drops Out of the Top Ten in Innovation Ranking
And guess who’s looking to insource our very stupid IP outsourcing?
Communist China’s Latest Intellectual Property Con: Stealing IP Creation
“(China) is setting themselves up to be the recipient of the massive investment coin that will leave the US – as our IP protection continues to deteriorate.
“What China is establishing – is the latest version of their China First protectionism.
“China has spent the last several decades doing this to other US economic sectors – most notably manufacturing. The IP pattern and plot-line…is disarmingly similar.”
We wrote this last piece – on April 24, 2018.
And now….
Is China Catching Up to the United States in Innovation?
Not just catching up….
China Poised to Lead the World in 5G
5G – that’s the Fifth Generation wireless network. 5G is a quantum leap forward – exponentially bigger than the previous 4Gs combined.
And not at all incidentally – guess which American company was nigh solely delivering the US to 5G leadership?
That would be the same company that delivered the US to leadership on each previous Generation.
Qualcomm.
The company upon whom the Obama Administration very stupidly declared war.
As the visual aide of the administration’s very stupid war on IP.
Here’s hoping it isn’t too late.
And Trump can clean up this Obama mess in time.
Some good news: It appears the Trump clean-up is beginning to work….
U.S. Tied with China in Global 5G Race, New Report Finds
Now let’s call off the Obama dogs hounding Qualcomm – and get back to leading all by our onesies.
This first appeared in Red State.