Free-Market, Black Friday

"Quality is one thing, safety is a different matter, and if we continue to hear this drumbeat of safety (problems), that could clearly impact consumers' perception of goods made in China."

Jack Ablin
Chief investment officer
Harris Private Bank, Chicago

"The Chinese better take heed and crack down hard (on faulty goods) now or they will be faced with anti-Chinese trade legislation soon."

Andrew Busch
Global foreign-exchange strategist
BMO Capital Markets, Chicago

Think twice about toys made in China

Hurt by a series of safety recalls of Chinese-made toys this year, U.S. toy companies and retailers are pressing China-based manufacturers to use quality materials. Some manufacturers say this is squeezing them financially.

Depending on which poll you trust, between 45 percent and 75 percent of American consumers said they will not buy toys made in China for Christmas this year. Count us among them. After the recall of millions of the most harmless-seeming items -- for high lead content, harmful chemicals, choking hazards or other worrisome risks -- there's no way we're bringing home any toys with a "made in China" tag.

Boycotting toys from China may be impractical, unrealistic, naive, misguided or excessive. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of toys sold in the United States are manufactured there. Many American-made toys, in addition to costing more than the ones made in China, have a hard time passing muster with our kids. How the heck can Christmas be Christmas if Santa is curtailed from delivering the items on youngsters' lists?

Read more at the Chicago Sun-Times.

"From the purely economic point of view nothing speaks against free trade and everything against protectionism."

Ludwig von Mises

A mother said Thursday she knew something was terribly wrong when her 20-month-old son began to stumble and started vomiting. He had just ingested a popular toy that contains a chemical that turns into a powerful ''date rape'' drug when eaten. It was the latest Chinese-made toy pulled from shelves in North America.

Read more at the Salt Lake Tribune.