A friend forwarded me the following email yesterday:

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock
(MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6 am .

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA ) was perking,

he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG )

He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA),

designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE)

and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA)

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA)

he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today.

After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN )

to the radio (MADE IN INDIA )

he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY )

filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia )

and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his
Computer (made in MALAYSIA),

John decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL ),

poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE )

and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA ),

and then wondered why he can’t find a good paying job in AMERICA

I’d normally pass on this one (presuming that most regular readers don’t need me to state the obvious), but just for fun I read the above to the newest member of our staff—one who is supposedly reading this blog—and she replied “that is so true”. Our delightful American staff member thus inspired my little (tiniest possible in fact) scratch below the surface of the start of John Smith’s day (I’ll take only a minute and shoot from the hip). The benefits of global trade are literally too numerous to count—as illustrated at the bottom in the Competitive Enterprise Institute‘s beautiful adaptation of Leonard Read‘s essay I, Pencil:

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN)—that he purchased at American company Target (that leases its spot from an American landowner) from a delightful young American checker—for 6 am. He meandered his way to the kitchen where he poured himself a bowl of Corn Flakes produced by American company Kellogg that was shipped by American company UPS to American grocer Vons where he bought his cereal from a delightful young American checker. Oh, and Kellogg bought the corn from American producers who also sell tons of corn to the Japanese who have U.S. dollars with which to buy the corn because they sold alarm clocks to blokes like John. Producers who, like John, wake early every morning having set their alarm clocks (MADE IN JAPAN)—that they purchased at American retailers (that lease their spots from American landowners) from delightful American checkers—for 6 am. And who, like John, eat stuff produced by American stuff growers that gets shipped by American companies to American grocers where they’re sold by delightful young American checkers. Oh, and American stuff growers sell tons of their stuff to foreigners who have U.S. dollars to spend because they sold their stuff to folks like them.