Clinton calls for new agency to curb loss of manufacturing jobs

Herald Tribune ^ | 3/3/04 | DEVLIN BARRETT

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the federal government Wednesday to take strong steps to reverse the loss of manufacturing jobs in recent years, charging the Bush administration has a "defeatist" attitude.

"What I hear from the administration is not hope, but fear," said Clinton, D-N.Y. "It is un-American... It's that loss of spirit as much as loss of jobs that deeply troubles me."

Clinton laid out her alternative in the speech to the Center for American Progress, a think tank run by President Clinton's former chief of staff John Podesta. The speech comes as the Senate is expected to take up a measure eliminating a tax break that led to a tariff penalty from the European Union.

"I don't think our country has an economic strategy," she said.

House and Senate Democrats, as well as state governors, will meet in April as part of a "manufacturing summit" to discuss the issue and offer their agenda, she said.

The senator argued for the creation of an across-the-board 10-percent cut in corporate taxes for American factories in order to retain and attract jobs that might otherwise go overseas.

She also proposed the creation of a Manufacturing Research Agency, most likely within the Commerce Department, to oversee and encourage research and development projects in manufacturing.

Clinton said the agency would go a long way toward helping the United States make advances in so-called "smart energy," from fuel cells and other sources that would make the country less dependent on oil.

Such a strategy could also be a boon to upstate New York, which has lost about 180,000 manufacturing jobs in the past three years, and is home to several research companies working on alternative energy products.

Nationwide, 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since July 2000. Some experts believe that trend is reversing, but others, including Sen. Charles Schumer, fear a fundamental shift in global economics and foreign currency issues threaten to put the United States at a long-term disadvantage.

Robert Ward, director of research at the Business Council of New York State, said while changes in federal taxes would certainly help, the worst of the nation's manufacturing job losses appear to have passed.

Ward said while Clinton's policies may help manufacturers around the country, the state could do more for local companies by reducing the relatively high costs of local property taxes and worker's compensation.

Randall Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York, disagreed with Clinton's assessment the current administration has been fatalistic.

"I do believe we have a major challenge that we need to address," Wolken said. "We need to be much more proactive and much less reactive."

Wolken said a tax cut for U.S.-based production would encourage and protect domestic manufacturing, but he was more skeptical of the creation of a new federal agency, arguing it is more important to get the government to aggressively retain and attract jobs.

Clinton said the proposed expanded research effort could be funded by postponing tax cuts supported by the Bush administration.

She also warned against the potential abuses to patient and customer privacy by outsourcing work on so many data files to foreign countries, where privacy laws are much weaker or nonexistent.

Clinton said she would offer legislation to hold companies responsible for any sensitive personal information subcontracted to foreign firms.

[Just mythoughts]

and.... people do not believe this OLD windbag is not planning to be on that ticket?

[mewzilla]

And what have you done for Upstate, Hillie...?

[annyokie]

Barf. As if Hillary! has the slightest grasp of economics.

[DustyMoment]

Yeah, that's just what we need - MORE government!! That'll solve everything!!

[mewzilla]

Let her run. If NYS has had it with her, and we have, she doesn't stand a chance with the rest of the country.

[Poohbah]

Clinton calls for new agency to curb loss of manufacturing jobs

Yup, just what we need: more government to "solve" the problems created (mostly) by too much government.

[Reelect President Dubya]

Manufacturing confusion
Thomas Sowell (archive)

January 15, 2004 | Print | Send

"Manufacturing jobs" has become a battle cry of those who oppose free trade and are sounding an alarm about American jobs being exported to lower-wage countries overseas. However, manufacturing jobs are much less of a problem than manufacturing confusion.

Much of what is being said confuses what is true of one sector of the economy with what is true of the economy as a whole. Every modern economy is constantly changing in technology and organization. This means that resources -- human resources as well as natural resources and other inputs -- are constantly being sent off in new directions as things are being produced in new ways.

This happens whether there is or is not free international trade. At the beginning of the 20th century, 10 million American farmers and farm laborers produced the food to feed a population of 76 million people. By the end of the century, fewer than 2 million people on the farms were feeding a population of more than 250 million. In other words, more than 8 million agricultural jobs were "lost."

Between 1990 and 1995, more than 17 million American workers lost their jobs. But there were never 17 million workers unemployed during this period, any more than the 8 million agricultural workers were unemployed before.

People moved on to other jobs. Unemployment rates in fact hit new lows in the 1990s. None of this is rocket science. But when the very same things happen in the international economy, it is much easier to spread alarm and manufacture confusion.

There is no question that many computer programming jobs have moved from the United States to India. But this is just a half-truth, which can be worse than a lie. As management consultant Peter Drucker points out in the current issue of Fortune magazine, there are also foreign jobs moving to the United States.

In Drucker's words, "Nobody seems to realize that we import twice or three times as many jobs as we export. I'm talking about the jobs created by foreign companies coming into the U.S.," such as Japanese automobile plants making Toyotas and Hondas on American soil.

"Siemens alone has 60,000 employees in the United States," Drucker points out. "We are exporting low-skill, low-paying jobs but are importing high-skill, high-paying jobs."

None of this is much consolation if you are one of the people being displaced from a job that you thought would last indefinitely. But few jobs last indefinitely. You cannot advance the standard of living by continuing to do the same things in the same ways.

Progress means change, whether those changes originate domestically or internationally. Even when a given job carries the same title, often you cannot hold that job while continuing to do things the way they were done 20 years ago -- or, in the case of computers, 5 years ago.

The grand fallacy of those who oppose free trade is that low-wage countries take jobs away from high-wage countries. While that is true for some particular jobs in some particular cases, it is another half-truth that is more misleading than an outright lie.

While American companies can hire computer programmers in India to replace higher paid American programmers, that is because of India's outstanding education in computer engineering. By and large, however, the average productivity of Indian workers is about 15 percent of that of American workers.

In other words, if you hired Indian workers and paid them one-fifth of what you paid American workers, it would cost you more to get a given job done in India. That is the rule and computer programming is the exception.

Facts are blithely ignored by those who simply assume that low-wage countries have an advantage in international trade. But high-wage countries have been exporting to low-wage countries for centuries. The vast majority of foreign investments by American companies are in high-wage countries, despite great outcries about how multinational corporations are "exploiting" Third World workers.

Apparently facts do not matter to those who are manufacturing confusion about manufacturing jobs.

[Just mythoughts]

Hey, I agree let her "crawl".

She just keeps polling her negatives....

[mewzilla]

Like our taxes ain't high enough. Yup, just what NYSers need, Hillie, higher federal taxes in addition to the ones the state imposes. Real freaking bright idea.

[goodnesswins]

Talk about the blind leading the blind and deaf....the idiot just proposed more gov't intervention as people are starting to wake up to the fact that maybe, just maybe, we've got a little TOO MUCH GOV'T INTERVENTION ALREADY!!!

[Dahoser]

She also proposed the creation of a Manufacturing Research Agency, most likely within the Commerce Department, to oversee and encourage research and development projects in manufacturing.

Her first attempt at central planning a flop, she nontheless serves up another. She loves GOSPLAN more than her old Soviet comrades.

[Poohbah]

She also proposed the creation of a Manufacturing Research Agency, most likely within the Commerce Department, to oversee and encourage research and development projects in manufacturing.

Her first attempt at central planning a flop, she nontheless serves up another. She loves GOSPLAN more than her old Soviet comrades.

There are FReepers who will say that this is a good idea.

Yup, even we FReepers have some really frickin' stupid people in our membership.

[cricket]

"Clinton urged the federal government Wednesday to take strong steps to reverse the loss of manufacturing jobs "

. . .now this is un-American and scary as well.

Clintonista fascism, and Hillary is proud of it.

[Tallguy]

Such a strategy could also be a boon to upstate New York, which has lost about 180,000 manufacturing jobs in the past three years, and is home to several research companies working on alternative energy products.

Without commenting on the overall strategy here, I hardly think that a few high-tech startups doing research & prototyping are in a position to replace more than 2% of those jobs. Moreover, these companys are probably allied with the research being done a various universities -- meaning that they are employing a very few people with very rare skills. And if these companies ever develop a product that requires mass producing, you can bet that much of it will be done outside the Great State of NY.

[TheSpottedOwl]

and.... people do not believe this OLD windbag is not planning to be on that ticket?

If I was a gambler, I'd say odds are on Hillary to be Kerry's running mate.They're perfect for each other, because they both hate this country.

[HEY4QDEMS]

I call for the end of world hunger.

You fellow Freepers are my witness.

When I run for President, My campaign will be able to say "in 2004, he called for the end of world hunger"

[lelio]

Hillary was the one that welcomed in Tata to the Buffalo area a year ago:

The deal was the brainchild of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), who is dedicated to bringing new businesses to the state of New York

Granted hindsight is 20/20 but she can't really complain about jobs going overseas when she actively courted one of those companies to setup shop here.

[Willie Green]

The senator argued for the creation of an across-the-board 10-percent cut in corporate taxes for American factories in order to retain and attract jobs that might otherwise go overseas.
Clinton said the agency would go a long way toward helping the United States make advances in so-called "smart energy," from fuel cells and other sources that would make the country less dependent on oil.

It was bad enough that the Bent One signed NAFTA.
Now the Hildebeast is pushing corporate tax cuts and Dubya's H₂ fuel cell boondoggle...
It almost sounds as if she's jockeying for position to take Cheney's place on the GOP ticket....

GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY....

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

DUBYA!!! PLEEEEEEEEASE DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!

[Just mythoughts]

Well she is getting so OLD! Her political timeclock is working against her.

JFKerry has the habit of needing wealthy women.