When President Obama touches down in Pittsburgh for the G-20 Summit he has a chance to lead on trade policies that will level the playing field for American workers and small businesses. Trade is critical to U.S. economic growth and vital to global economic development. Trade – especially exports – has been the one bright spot in our economy over recent years, accounting at one point for nearly 60 percent of our economic growth. Forty-two percent of American jobs depend on trade, and exports account for one in every eight …
The front page of the business section of the New York Times today notes recent Chinese state intervention in trade. The Times is right to make this observation, if six… or eight… months late. But recent Chinese moves are neither new nor particularly important. The intervention in trade is long-standing; recent steps are minor extensions of previous policy. The announcement that government departments must buy local goods and services whenever available is just a restatement, the third or fourth one, of existing practices. Unfortunately, it also follows on our own “Buy …
Here is a quote from the President’s new budget (emphasis added): “If we lead the world in the research and development of clean energy technology, we can create a whole new industry with high-paying jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. Some compare the promise of this sector to information technology.” “High-paying jobs that cannot be shipped overseas,” is a mantra of the left. It is an entirely bogus claim and even if it weren’t, it would be a bad idea. First, developing technology in the USA doesn’t guarantee that the …
