from EconomyInCrisis:
Universities in the United States produce some of the best economists, engineers, historians, scientists, and political theorists in the world. The quality of education up the high school level has fallen off precipitously in the past few decades, but for those who strive for higher education there is virtually no better place to do it than here in the U.S.
Unfortunately, while the brain trust of academia has largely been unable to breech the ivory tower that is Washington politics. Our politicians have to deal with issues on a daily basis that affect every sector of the economy, and ever sector of everyday life in America. Yet the vast majority of them are attorneys. Their professional training is in litigation; not civil engineering, economics, or hard sciences.
After sprinkling in a few medical doctors and former military service members, and a growing number of former corporate executives, you have accounted for nearly every elected official in our nation’s capital.
It is no wonder why our politicians seem to constantly come up on the short end of international diplomatic and economic negotiations. When a ministerial conference is conveyed in Beijing, or Sydney, or Doha, nations from around the world send their top academic minds – after deputizing them into the political system in some way. The United States, meanwhile, sends Ivy League law graduates and a cohort with a lifetime of experience in fundraising and campaigning. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://economyincrisis.org/content/free-trade-failure