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Monday, February 16, 2004
Matthew Yglesias wants to know why the Bush Administration hasn't done more to enhance the American job market:
I heard this NPR report on "offshoring" this morning and it was really making me pretty frustrated. It was clear from what the anti-offshoring rank-and-file folks were saying that trade, etc., really had very little to do with their concerns. Rather, they're mad because of a shitty labor market that actually has very little to do with trade one way or the other.
This is frustrating because the Bush administration really could, were they so inclined, improve the job market and I don't know why they haven't.
And how should the Federal Government prop up the job market? National works programs? Confiscate from those who have the means of capitalization, and place it in the hands of the government? Keynes would applaud in his grave at that notion.
Should we instead penalize companies that move jobs offshore? How is that even plausible, with so many corporations operating globally?
It is not the government's "job" to provide guarantees for workers. Yet, the Feds can do their part by making capital as cheap as possible. Such tactics encourage investment, which is what we see at this point in the economic cycle.
If you want to blame someone for job losses, try a different approach. For example, blame our educational system which has lowered the bar to such an extent that a high school diploma is now essentially worthless. Blame a culture that values immediate gratification, making it necessary for our youth to enter low skill jobs to sustain their materialistic lifestyles. In short, the job pool is diluted; people qualified for professional positions are difficult to find; companies, who must be concerned with maintaining profitability, look outside for cheaper, more skilled labor, and demand more from within. Why? Not because they are taskmasters, but because they can, and must.
Jobs have eroded for many reasons. It would take more than a blog posting to enumerate them. But to blame the Bush administration for adhering to the "cheap capital" philosophies espoused by economists such as Smith, Friedman, and Laffer, is wrongheaded. Labels: Archives_2004
.: posted by
Dave
10:43 AM
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