Americans love the good life, and for good reasons. Up until the 1970's our
productive machines of goods, foods, services, were the world's best and
highest qualities. We had an efficient and prosperous middle class matched nowhere
in the world. That also made us the largest market---for our own, and imported,
goods. But we became a fat, comfortable and complacent consumer society. We didn't notice that others were catching up and passing us in education, and modernized production capacity, and government subsidies to manufacturers. With vast reserves of workers they were also able to keep wages and benefits under tight control and at very low levels. Suddenly the disparity between the cost to produce
our products at home vs. in low wage venues grew too great to ignore. Our industrial
base looked abroad as the place to produce at lower cost and still continue to sell
in the American market. That is an unsustainable strategy. The outsourced jobs have
eroded our middle class consumer economy. Trying to work our way out of this deep recession solely within the American economy is a recipe for a steep decline in our
standard of living. We must again become a leading exporter. To do so, will require a number of actions:
All subsidies to job exporters must end.
Tariffs must be imposed on imports which enjoy government subsidies abroad.
Labor must accept restraints in work rules, benefits, wage increases to reduce
domestic production costs, until exports reach relative equilibrium with imports.
That certainly is preferable to permanent unemployment.
The federal government should be willing to offer incentives to firms which recall
jobs from abroad.
American entrepreneurs should be incentivized to go into manufacturing for the
coming green energy explosion, creating new jobs instead of abandoning this enormous emerging market to Asia.
We are a resourceful and courageous people when called to action. Now is the time for
the new congress to sound the clarion call. The nation will respond!
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2 comments:
This is my second comment, somewhat abbreviated because I had to go through getting a google account. If this doesn't go through, I quit.
I agree with your suggestions. Large corporations, which have been sitting on their huge profits, have to start using them to hire. I believe they, and banks, were averse to helping the economy improve until after the election. Let's hope we see some jobs open up;if I recall correctly, WJS reported a reduction in unemployment figures.
Also, we need some sort of reasonable relationship between executive pay and that of the average worker.
Marj
Marty,
You and Marj are "right on target".
As the world's leader in innovation and technology we really have no choice but to invent solutions the entire world is anxiously waiting to hear about.
We can do what needs to be done but I, personally, have become weary of waiting for our "best and brightest" to step forward. Is there anyone left with the ambition to address these issues?
To answer my own question; Yes, there are amazingly capable resources right here, in our culture but they are not coming forward because they, too, are intimidated by the plastic bubble we have learned to trust even more than pragmatic thought.
Our first objective should be to remove the cataracts of our highly prejudiced leadership which might actually allow intellectuals to, again, rise to the challenges of our time.
Nobody ever appreciates intellectuals in their own time but that is not to say we cannot afford them the freedom of putting reason back into our conversations.
My name is not Bloomberg or Cheney or Getty but my brain aches for well-founded and reasonable inspiration. We Americans have fallen into a rut of expecting pat answers when we cannot even define the questions. Enough is enough! Let me hate ideas I cannot understand because that will compel me to actually think about what is being said. - That is called growth.
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