The proposed injection of taxpayer money into the auto industry is engendering some good debate. Pat Buchanan reminds us that none of the presidents who are honored on Mount Rushmore favored free trade. All were America-firsters. It is not an "in" thing any more to be an America-firster. Should America impose tariffs on all foreign goods? Trillions of dollars and thousands of jobs have left America due to the free trade policies of the Clinton and Bush presidencies.
Should we make more loans to the auto industry? If so, should the unions and management be required to make some concessions and sacrifices? I think so. We should encourage foreign companies to come to America to produce their autos and other goods, using American workers. We could reduce the amount of the tariffs to those foreign companies who set up shop in America. What do you think?
2 comments:
Capital flows freely, labor less so - inevitably. Some of us have done very well. Others have been forced to accept a series of increasingly cruddy jobs in exchange for cheaper consumer goods. I've supported free trade in the past, but today the case needs to be made why, contrary to appearances, it's good for a majority of Americans.
I hate to sound so centralist here, but we really need to work this out in a balanced way. For example, did these jobs go away because of free markets or because unions have too much control over salaries and benes? There are some serious questions that need answering here, I don't see anyone even asking them.
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