The Economy and fate of Democrats. One dependent upon the other...
.......Trade deficits and off shoring one and the same when will we learn... We have a Fair Trade Majority in the Congress we might likely loose next year. And some stupid Americans think the Goopers have some answers..!.The Congress might take action about Fair Trade if we would just let it..
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.Understanding What Went Wrong: I speak from more than 30 years of experience in national economic matters reaching back to the Nixon Era in 1970. That was a time of big impact by Japan and the new global economy, and of course the first overtures to China. I believe that most of the jobs troubles we're having today stem from trade and financial policies adopted then and that are basically still followed today! Very simply we gave away far too much and are still doing so now. It's high time we change!
What's different since 1970? Then the US was beginning to run trade deficits, but only about $10 billion annually. Economists said "Don't worry -- if some policy decisions favor other countries some, we'll benefit in the global gains." They also said "We're going to float the dollar, so If we begin to run bigger trade deficits, the dollar's value will adjust to keep our exports competitive!" If anyone had said "With those policies, we'll later run $500 billion dollar annual trade deficits and lose many manufacturers and their good jobs, the economists would have said "Impossible -- It can't happen." But it did, and America's companies and employees are paying a very big price!
Our trade deficits grew steadily until they reached $700+ billion in 2004! Since the recession began in 2007, thousands of plants have closed, with millions of jobs lost. Our manufacturing employment is down from a peak of 20 million workers in 1979 to about 10 million today in a much bigger population. Those are the results of ineffectual policies over many years. Most economists now say "This is unsustainable!
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What Are The Key Elements of A Fix It Program? Here's what's needed for a robust jobs recovery and a deep reduction in our trade deficits. Most of all, let the forces of fair competition revitalize our manufacturers and their good jobs!!
1. Make it national policy to achieve a balanced trade account over a very few years.
2. Keep our markets open with a new tradable import certificate system.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-davis/our-jobless-recovery-is-t_b_359697.html