They'll do anything for a buck. I've been quoting the distinguished Princeton economist, Alan Blinder, who projected a few years ago that the United States would lose thirty to forty million jobs in the next ten years to off-shoring. Now comes my friend in The Washington Post (2/19/10) with an editorial, "Getting the biggest bang for job -- creation bucks."
He writes about job creation when the problem is job loss from off-shoring. It's intentional. The economists don't want to recognize that globalization is nothing more than a trade or economic war with production looking for a cheaper country to produce. And the government is the "comparative advantage." But the economists insist that our government do nothing.
Blinder writes that the best two ways to create jobs is either a general stimulus or a target stimulus when he knows that stimulation isn't working. President George W. Bush stimulated the economy for eight years by increasing the national debt $5 trillion. And household debt increased or stimulated $7 trillion during the same period, for a total of $12 trillion stimulation in eight years. When President Obama came to office the economy was over-stimulated and, with a $2 ½ trillion stimulation with the Paulson plan, the Obama plan, and the Federal Reserve, we're still losing jobs.
South Carolina just created or stimulated 3,500 jobs with an industrial policy to attract the manufacture of Boeing's Dreamliner. The need for jobs, both creation and retention, is for President Obama to immediately launch an industrial policy to compete in globalization. But Krugman, Blinder, and all the other national economists obsequiously parrot Wall Street's "free trade," "protectionism" nonsense for the big, profits, big bonuses, and big economists' salaries. Business can make more money in China. But our economy suffers fatal injury. It's not just jobs. Microsoft, Intel, General Motors all have proved that it is investment, research, technology, development, production, that follows the jobs. It's the economy, and the U. S. economy is at stake. The most competitive people are being told by Blinder and his kind that it's economically wrong to compete.
We used to follow the wishes of business in Congress, but Wall Street, the big banks and big business are no longer interested in the economy of the United States but the economy of China, India, or wherever they're investing. President Obama and the Congress are out on their own with the responsibility for the economy and fashioning an industrial policy that will be opposed by the Business Roundtable and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce.
I have outlined time and again the beginning of an industrial policy, but the economists give the President and the Congress credibility for doing nothing. So, all I can do is rephrase Shakespeare's line in "Henry VI," "First, we must kill all the economists."
The real incentive should be a credit for two jobs created for each job exported otherwise a strict penalty for each job exported.
At this time, the US is being bent-over by foreign governments who simply don't care about free markets. In fact, I think they really do believe that we're stupid for letting them do whatever they like to us.
On the off-shore trend - what can we do? Well, quite a bit...
(a) We should be taxing import of human-based services at a rate of roughly 30%-40% to pay our UECC benefits; after all, someone's going to pay, why should it be everyone except those benefiting from the policy
(b) Tax foreign students attending US universities anywhere in the world about 300%; use the money to educate 3 of our middle-class kids who can't get loans yet can't afford college (that works because any foreign national attending a US university is either rich or paid for by a foreign government); set a cap on US university % foreign students as well
(c) Provide foreign students with a green card upon successful graduation in the USA with, say, a GPA >3.25 (why? don't send them home to help their country compete; that's foolish)
(d) Tax the purchase of a US firm by a foreign-national firm very, very heavily -- Why? Someone must pay for the unemployment caused. I encourage you to look into what Volvo said when they purchased Mack Truck, and what they actually did; same with Anheuser Busch and InBev.
I think that we need a focus like we had to get to the moon to -dominate- these emerging areas, funded directly by the Federal Government in an attempt to posture the US for the future:
1. Nanotech inventions, manufacturing in particular
2. Genetic treatments
3. Technology to retire oil as fuel
When I say 'dominate' I specifically mean the following conditions should apply:
(a) All inventions are US-only for manufacturing and may never be licensed overseas
(b) All manufacturing in the US only, 100% US-sourced parts and components -or- a tax on the imported components of, say, 20%.
About a trillion should be enough ;}
As for your example of Boeing jobs -- All zero-sum; those jobs would have been US anyway.
Since one of your aids actually might read this, next I'll post about jobs policy more generally.
There is no talking to them or convincing them that free market capitalism is only free when we have a choice to participate or not participate. Our forced participation in this global experiment is being done without our permission and for many without their knowledge.
Thank you, Senator! One thing missing from the solutions offered by 99% of the progressive economists and politicians: The Apology!
"We're sorry about globalization. It's not working, it's not going to work. You, America, were conned, and we helped. A lot. We're sorry."
Not hearing that much though. I do see a lot of panicked efforts by progressive politicians to whitewash themselves out of the history of globalization's rise and spectacular crash, though.
( Or maybe the state of America's economy really does represent a crowning success for the globalization movement? Maybe everything is proceeding just as planned? )
Even if we put up trade walls the rest of the world will just walk away from us. We need innovation to build products the world wants to buy and develop resources the world wants to buy.
Globalization is happening and we must adapt and conquer, not whine and beg government for protection.
When China enacted their own stimulus plan to bolster their economy, they required the money only be used to purchase Chinese made products. Japan did the exact same thing. When a Democrat tried to insert a 'Buy America' provision into our stimulus, the GOP and Blue Dogs put the kibosh on it.
Globalization as it stands today is nothing but a race to the bottom, it's who has the poorest population to exploit to make the cheapest products to ensure the biggest profits for the companies.
I'm all for global trade as long as it's fair. We don't want to create a poorer standard of living here to compete with the poor standards of living elsewhere. That's madness.
How about at least starting out making products we want to buy?
We are being forced to buy their crap but they are certainly not forced to buy ours and in fact are influenced to buy their own. The rich are too invested in imported products and services and that is one of the major reasons they all wimp out and shake whenever they even hint the word protectionism.
CNN article excerpt; "in the coming decade more frequent recessions will repeatedly abort downswings in unemployment."
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/05/news/economy/jobs_growth/
NPR article excerpt; "the U.S. economy needs to keep expanding without interruption until 2020 for unemployment to fall to its pre-recession low of 4.4 percent. Should the next recession arrive earlier, as we suspect, it will take much longer. The implications constitute nothing short of a wake-up call for policy makers who promise to get job growth back on track."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121087285
We, too, can economize. Cut up that credit card, don't sign loan agreements, if you can't afford it, honestly, then don't buy it. Period.
Lets economize Wall Street, Oil Cartels, and the Health Insurance companies,give our citizens the right to earn a living wage, rather than try to compete with a slave in another third world country making three dollars per day.
Facts please
Gads! Some people will believe anything
Besides, we know what they do. Are similar to those incarcerated.
They are obsessed with trying to figure out ways to separate you from any money you have.
That is how they spend their time.
Seems right they would move on not even looking back at the mess they created.
Well, yes MrOctober, Our Congress got rid of our country's usery laws and now corporations are vote eligible. That is hardly at the heart of the American Spirit.
Wasn't it Churchill that said we would die from within?
Now THAT'S bipartisanship! Starving together
I call for an audit of all politicians’ assets to see if there is any way they could have afforded what they own on just their salaries. Including money they have used for investments.
The only way to get rid of these people is to vote them out and this November is your chance. I just hope everybody is smart enough to see which ones are truly screwing things up for us.
I wish that you had never left us to the Dimented.
You are absolutely right that we need to fix the holes in our collender of an economy that pours a good percentage of stimulus money straight over seas because most manufacturing has been offshored.
But as far as I can tell, I think that Krugman is FOR additional stimulus and also for FAIR trade industrial policy, and I am pretty sure that Bob Reich is too.
They are getting hundreds of millions from the state in tax breaks, in exchange for maybe 700 jobs.
(Washington state gave them 2 billion and '03, and look how they repaid the taxpayers!)
The union at the SC location was decertified. Low wages/no benefits anyone?
They will be allowed to pollute more freely than in the Northwest.
Boeing had other business reasons, to be sure. Not all anti-worker.
Just be careful what you wish for.