Free Trade? At What Cost?
The Chicago Tribune today carried an excellent op-ed piece by William Daley that argues in favor or re-evaluating certain aspects of our current trade policy. With the new Congress controlled by the Democrats (with a base that is heavily controlled by the unions and other anti-free trade groups) it would not be unreasonable to assume that our current trade policies will be certainly reviewed, and quite possibly revised. There are a handful of anti-free trade Republicans who will certainly lend support. This review would be an excellent activity in light of the growing gap between the middle class and the wealthy. What is good for China is probably not in the best interest of the American people (with exceptions), and unless something is done soon, we will have to trade them California to erase our debt.
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4 comments:
I'd say its about time that the business community showed some sort of concern for the negatives associated with globalization, but until they begin to suffer financially from these negatives, their is no reason for them to do so.
Nevertheless, its depressing to know that our Congressional policies concerning globalization are shaped by the very perpetuant of all its negative qualities.
China needs to let their currency be free-floating. In the long-term the only way to create currency stability is to fix it totally or let it be free-floating. A one-time change once in a while causes much speculation. Without flexibility, speculative flows could quickly become large, as they did during the Asian financial crisis, and threaten economic stability and orderly world trade. (Sorry about theecon talk, that's my thing)
The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-Ronald Reagan
The effects of globalization are complex, and have been a kind of mixed bag for Americans. People are offered commodities at cheaper prices but at the same time, manufacturing jobs have relocated and wages are not increasing substabtially for many individuals. I think the author makes a good point that Democrats and the business community needs to look at possible plans to benefit Americans and still conduct international trade.
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