Manufacturing jobs went to the third world because labor unions didn't demand a seat at the NAFTA table. You see, the union's pension funds are invested in these bloodsucking corporations, so they looked the other way when NAFTA was enacted. It was the union's own greed that resulted in labor going overseas. If NAFTA had a labor clause that penalized companies for outsourcing their labor, American workers wouldn't have lost their jobs.
Not entirely accurate; besides, in the mean time, the solution you're suggesting is going to create an additional layer of bureaucracy to our government, which means higher taxes (which means less likely that businesses will want to build here). The real issue is somewhat complex; you have high taxes and high inflation that makes it impractical to keep manufacturing here, so companies will move to other countries to escape the tax burden. Another problem is that we subsidized other countries, which allows them to use our nearly worthless dollars against us (buying up our land, companies, etc), which...well, when they do, they're going to move as much as possible back home to their country. Of course, NAFTA generally benefits the poorer countries more than it benefits us, which is yet another reason why jobs flow out of our country. Lastly (and most importantly), is the Federal Reserve itself. Since the end of WWII, we've held the status of "world's reserve currency"...this bestows on us a great deal of little talked about economic power. First, we can influence other markets and put pressure on other countries because of our status (though it doesn't always work....Iraq and Iran are two good examples)...the other is our exportation of inflation. We can inflate our money supply by a very very large amount, then export it to other countries. This has the natural effect of making other country's currencies undervalued at best...of course, then we come in and use that country because it is now "cheap labor" because of our currency dominance.
NAFTA is an issue, but not
the issue....and your solution will make a protectionist bureaucratic society, at best.
Right now we're playing a game of Monopoly with the Banks, Big Oil, the automobile industry, Big Pharma, the Agricultural industry and many other cartels who are squeezing people to the point of losing their homes, their jobs, and even their lives as they slowly starve to death. Without straight arrows like Ron Paul to enforce the law and root out corruption, the market will never be free.
while coercive monopolies (which are 95/100 times government created) do play a part in the whole scheme of things, the government plays an even bigger role...and the individual (I'll just call it the 'private sector') is a large part to blame too. The housing bubble is an excellent example; the Fed, not those companies, created the bubble, and the peopled rushed in to build, buy, and sell houses like crazy. While it is a moral hazard on the Fed's part, the private sector ultimately made the decision at the end of the day; many have chosen to build far more than than they can afford, and put everything on 'plastic' so to speak...well, eventually the bills come do, and when they do...if you can't pay, it's not the banks, or the government's fault (in this case), as you're the one who ultimately made the decision to go into debt. Yes, the bursting housing bubble is not, at all, a good thing for people, but when people make stupid investments and go far far into debt, then at the end of the day, it's their own fault.
The Food crisis is really complex too...ultimately though, again, it can be traced to the Fed...though the private sector is partially responsible....but still, the biggest thing playing a part in this particular instance is the weather itself; we've had an abnormally cold Spring, and crops that are normally planted by now are not.....A guy named Steve, who is well-connected with one of the world's largest food supplier, said that the supplier told him that basically there's little food left for this year, and that there will be no food by 2009 (of course, this is assuming we don't have some terrible disaster).
Now, there does exist the possibility that the government is controlling/influencing the weather, but I'm not going to say for certain...either way, things look bad for this year and next.
