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Quote by: tusaki Fine, my deduction would be that he implies the government lied about "the lack of skilled employment" first and about "the cost of labor" later.
However, for the government to lie, they must first know it isn't true. The call for more skilled employment in the 80's was not limited to the US alone.
I agree that the (any) government is too short sighted, and only willing to look a few days ahead. However, I do not think you can show me one study, published in the 80's which points out the problems of globalization and outsourcing.
I think it is too simplistic to point a shaky finger to the government and say "they must have known!". |
I think this is the perfect example of corporate politics leaving the Boardroom, and entering the public arena.
This was what corporate America wanted us to believe, this was the "official story" being trumpeted in the news on a fairly regular basis for many years.
No sooner than employers got the highly skilled workforce that they desired, they changed the rules of the game, and used special interest lobbying to forward legislation that would enable them to outsource (NAFTA, GATT, CAFTA...) the jobs because of highly skilled workers expect to be highly paid, and that is not in the interest of the Stockholders.
Ever wonder why we never needed these complicated "Free Trade Agreements" before late last century?
The problem is not only the government, who pass the legislation, but also the corporations who write it, and use unfair advantage (special interests lobbying) to forward their agenda by circumventing the traditional legal process.
Then there is the whole issue of the definition of the term "free trade" used by documents such as NAFTA, GATT, etc...
We learned that there two definitions of the term "Free Trade".
To talk to an economist, they would tell you that free trade means the ability of any person to buy any product from any other person without government interference, no matter where that person may reside.
The definition of "free trade" used in government documents such as N.A.F.T.A. , G.A.T.T. , the World Monetary Fund , and The World Trade Organization is quite different. They're definition of free trade specifically states that the products being produced are more mobile than the facility that creates them.
As we see in our current ecomy, they is a massive outflux of jobs leaving the U.S. for foreign shores, and it all seem to come from companies that trade on the Stock Exchange. The fact that they are responsible to show the most profit for the shareholders means they must seek the cheapest operating cost, witch means outsourcing to the cheapest product available. Many even move there factories, thereby violating the treaty we signed, and negating any good effcts it might have had here at home.
It is all very sinister.