In his attempt to come from way back and upset John Kerry for the Democratic nomination, John Edwards is focusing on two disctinctions. First he claims he has a better chance to beat Bush than Kerry does. Second, Edwards draws disctinctions on their approach to trade.
Edwards beats the anti-NAFTA, anti-free trade, anti-jobs going overseas drum. That drum does not resonate with me. While I am not in favor of any policies that would give companies an artificial incentive to move jobs overseas, I am in favor of free trade and also view the shift of manufacturing jobs overseas as an inevitiability.
Perhaps we could slow the tide with protectionist policies, but I worry about other negative effects on our economy that protectionism can have. What frustrates me, is that none of the candidates and neither party are discussing what we should be doing to prepare for the coming global economy. I am not economist and no soothsayer, but certain things seem obvious to me (1) no matter what, manufacturing style jobs are going to increasingly be performed in China, India and other “rising” nations with cheap labor; (2) America’s share of the world’s wealth, on a percentage basis, is not sustainable; (3) our educational system (K-12) is woefully inadequate in comparison to that of most Western nations; (4) our position of world dominance is not as secure as most Americans think it is (i.e., I think most Americans can’t imagine that we could possibly slip from the ranks of clear number one anytime in the forseeable future). I think we need to start beefing our educational system up now ... and I am not talking about no child left behind, or things like that, but making available to the best and brightest (regardless of whether their parents can afford to send them to great private schools) a quality education that will help to produce more great entrepreneurs and thinkers.
But, these are things that happen over time. The type of things that rarely get considered in the immediacy of an election. I like John Edwards, but I think his stance on trade policy is shortsighted.
Read Less...
In his attempt to come from way back and upset John Kerry for the Democratic nomination, John Edwards is focusing on two disctinctions. First he claims he has a better chance to beat Bush than Kerry does. Second, Edwards draws disctinctions on their approach to trade.
Edwards beats the anti-NAFTA, anti-free trade, anti-jobs going overseas drum. That drum does not resonate with me. While I am not in favor of any policies that would give companies an artificial incentive to move jobs overseas, I am in favor of free trade and also view the shift of manufacturing jobs overseas as an inevitiability.
Perhaps we could slow the tide with protectionist policies, but I worry about other negative effects on our economy that protectionism can have. What frustrates me, is that none of the candidates and neither party are discussing what we should be doing to prepare for the coming global economy. I am not economist and no soothsayer, but certain things seem obvious to me (1) no matter what, manufacturing style jobs are going to increasingly be performed in China, India and other “rising” nations with cheap labor; (2) America’s share of the world’s wealth, on a percentage basis, is not sustainable; (3) our educational system (K-12) is woefully inadequate in comparison to that of most Western nations; (4) our position of world dominance is not as secure as most Americans think it is (i.e., I think most Americans can’t imagine that we could possibly slip from the ranks of clear number one anytime in the forseeable future). I think we need to start beefing our educational system up now ... and I am not talking about no child left behind, or things like that, but making available to the best and brightest (regardless of whether their parents can afford to send them to great private schools) a quality education that will help to produce more great entrepreneurs and thinkers.
But, these are things that happen over time. The type of things that rarely get considered in the immediacy of an election. I like John Edwards, but I think his stance on trade policy is shortsighted.
Read Less...
NAFTA, Trade Agreements, Kerry and Edwards. Some thoughts.
