The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Protectionism in the Name of Protecting Jobs

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The Spectacle Blog

Protectionism in the Name of Protecting Jobs

By Doug Bandow on 12.4.10 @ 7:52AM

John points to the good news that the U.S. and South Korea have reached a deal on revising their free trade agreement. The FTA is a boon for the U.S. in both economic and geopolitical terms for reasons which I detailed in a recent study for the Cato Institute.

Yet the administration deserves to be criticized for sacrificing American consumers for its union supporters. The revised agreement delays elimination of U.S. tariff on Korean autos. That hurts South Korean exporters, obviously, but U.S. car buyers as well. Not just those who buy South Korean cars, but all car buyers, who will end up paying higher prices in a marginally less competitive domestic market.

The deal demonstrates the political appeal of protectionism: tell auto workers that you are "protecting" their jobs while sticking it to consumers, who will have less money to spend on goods and services elsewhere in the economy.

The Bush administration got this issue right. For shame on President Obama & Co.

Oldefarte| 12.4.10 @ 11:50AM

This country [especially government] needs to outlaw labor unions in entirety. In previous times, unions provided employee protections from abusive companies exploiting their workers, but not any longer. There are currently enough substantial labor oriented laws on the books to provide adequate protections, and there is no need presently for workers to have to organize. Companies will now pay market wages based on supply and demand, and the destructive elements of union wages over market wages makes American companies unable to compete with foreign countries. If unions were eliminated, this country's companies could then compete on a price basis with other countries, and through quality control and productivity, produce far better products and services. The current unfair Chinese tying their currency to our dollar could be eliminated through simply tariffs/duties imposed upon their imports [subsequent to our eliminating the destructive union factor]. Reagan rightfully fired the unionized air traffic controllers, but our government should go further and eliminate all unions for the betterment of this country!!!!!!!!

Anthony| 12.4.10 @ 3:11PM

Who are unions hurting? Are you aware of the wages executives in American companies are pulling in? Millions upon millions of dollars, to what end? How many yachts, houses, cars do these people need? If not for unions the American working man's wages, which have stagnated for years, would soon resemble a Mexican worker's wages. It wasn't the union workers who destroyed American industry, it was greedy executives offshoring jobs to pull in a few more cents per share. Unions built this country and enabled millions of Americans to afford homes and send their kids to college. There's good and bad in all organizations, but I'd say the good unions have and continue to do far outwieghs the bad.

Oldefarte| 12.4.10 @ 3:41PM

EXECUTIVES are highly EDUCATED personnel that companies compensate highly due to their knowledge/expertise. LABOR UNION employees conversely are HIGH SCHOOL educated at best or less, that have to be trained to push buttons which operate computer oriented machinery, and again union pay scales are over and above what the market demands for these less educated employees deserve. The difference between a Detroit/domestic [union] manufactured vehicle and a Tennessee/foreign [non-union] one represents the labor union component of the former's wage scale; and this is the reason that domestic car manufacturers have lost money and required a government bailout recently [and this is the difference between union manufacturing in this country versus non-union ones in foreign countries]. To answer your question, UNIONS ARE HURTING AMERICA'S CONSUMERS BY INFLATING THE PRODUCT PRICE FROM ITS INHERENT UNION WAGE HIGHER COST. Workers hurt themselves by being uneducated and in some cases STUPID. Computers are quickly replacing these workers' jobs [ie elevator operators, supermarket check out clerks,etc], and instead of children today extending their education by going to trade schools or college, they conversely slide through high school, either drop out or don't study/learn, and therafter are tooo stupid to be able to be hired by companies seeking educated employees needed to operate computers and do the necessary work. EDUCATION is your answer to workers' employment problems, not LABOR UNIONS!!!!!!!!!!