DOG SONG BUYS A BONE MADE IN AMERICA, NOT ONE MADE IN CHINA

By Mark Bloome, Founder of TAP America

Dog Song wanted a bone.  So off to the bone store I went, to fetch my poor dog a bone.

I decided to shop around first at the Made in China bone store, and then made in the USA bone store.

In I went and found that for one dollar I could get 8 Chinese bones. At the USA bone store the price of bones was $1 for 4 USA bones.

Wow Chinese bones were cheaper!  Being an American I asked Mr. USA bone storeowner how come his bones were so expensive.

He sat me down and said, “Son, I have a sad story to tell you, if you would give me a few minutes to explain.”

“First off many of the Chinese bones came from diseased cows as in China they have little to no health standards, so it is cheaper to take bones from sick cattle, then from healthy all- American cows.”

But he said the Chinese government, wants the people who sell USA bones to go out of business so that the only thing people can buy are diseased bones made in China.

[Dog Song crooked her neck and looked at me funny]

Mr. USA bone storeowner continued. “Here is what the Chinese government does, it manipulates its currency. “  Song and I jumped up and said we do not understand such fancy words as “manipulate its currency.” [For a dog Song is real smart, and also real cute so she gets away with things]

Mr. USA storeowner continued, “It is like this Song” [by this time he was talking to the dog as I guess he thought Song was smarter then I and she cocked her ears and wagged her tail while listening and of course I am not good at either tail wagging or ear cocking]  “Currency is money.”  “In the USA it is called the dollar, in Mexico the peso, in China their currency is called the Renminbi.  The Chinese government always has their currency on sale” he said.  Song and I both said, “Explain more.”

Song walked over to Mr. USA put her head on his lap and we both listened.

“Currencies” he said, “ are just like stocks or gold, they are bought and sold based on what the market will pay for them; this is called the ‘exchange rate’.”  Mr. USA looked down at Song and she wagged her tail, and sort of growled and whispered to me, “exchange rate, that just a fancy word for the selling price, like how many dollars it will cost to buy one of them China dollars called the Renminbi.”  Then I told her to quiet down and listen.

So Mr. USA said to Song, “Pretend you have one dollar and want to buy some Renminbi that is you exchange one dollar and you get some Chinese Renminbi back.  Now China can take in one dollar and sell or exchange you 8 Renminbi because it has altered its currency to undercut the rest of the world.  But if they played fair, they would take one dollar and sell or exchange 4 Renminbi.  But if you now have 8 Renminbi you can go to the Chinese store and buy 8 bones and if you go the USA store like mine you only buy 4 bones.

Mr. USA continued,  “Well pretty soon the rancher, who made his living selling bones to dogs, cannot stay in business.  He has to fire his cowboys, and he cannot pay off his mortgage and he has to give up.”

“Now here comes a even worse part,” said Mr. USA, “the Chinese government takes the dollar you gave for the China bones, and invests it in making super weapons and engaging in cyber warfare. Strong evidence suggests that the Chinese government is responsible for a number of recent cyber attacks against the U.S. Department of the Defense and other federal agencies.”

“In fact, ending China’s currency manipulation could help create at least 1.5 million  U.S. jobs over the next few years.”

“So Song” Mr. USA said, “if you want to protect your owner and your country, think about buying local USA goods.”  His face grew serious and in a thoughtful voice full of feeling, said,  “After all the job you save and the country we save will be our own.”