Obama And Romney Are Wrong: Outsourcing Is Actually America At Its Best

Forbes ^ | 07/28/2012 | Harry Binswanger

[SeekAndFind]

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are currently fighting over who is the more patriotic. Obama slams Romney for having outsourced jobs to China during his Bain Capital days. Romney punches back by labeling Obama “Outsourcer in Chief.” The latest is that both John Boehner and Harry Reid are voicing outrage over America’s made-in-China Olympic uniforms. “Burn them!” thunders Reid.

Republicans and Democrats strangely agree that outsourcing is unpatriotic, and that the moral and patriotic thing to do is to “Hire American” and “Buy American.”

Well, no. Not in a thousand years. The fear of outsourcing and international trade is economic nonsense and moral blindness. More than that: this anti-profit attitude is un-American.

Despite the ongoing Europeanization of America, America still symbolizes the land of freedom, entrepreneurship, profit-making, above all, individualism.

But collectivism is the premise of “Hire/Buy American”: we are to view ourselves and others not as individuals, but as units of a nation. Businesses are urged to pay more in labor costs, simply to hire workers who are American; consumers are urged to forgo Walmart’s low prices, pay more, simply because the pricier goods were made by “our guys.” This is not rational patriotism, it is not Americanism, it's primitive tribalism.

American individualism means making buying decisions on the basis of economic merit, giving no regard to the nationality or race of the seller. Let’s not hide behind patriotic-sounding slogans. Let’s name things straight for a change: giving preference to American sellers over foreign sellers is the same mindless injustice as giving preference to sellers who are white over those who are black.

Economic nationalism is as morally outrageous as racism. Buying on the basis of nationality or race is the same collectivist evil: judging men and their products by the group from which they come, not by merit.

[1rudeboy]

And the self-denial of a protectionist rears its head: if tariffs do not raise the prices of domestic products (or reduce the profits you fear so much—when the producer does not choose to pass the higher cost of imported hops to the consumer, for example), then how are they supposed to save jobs in the first place?

[ex-snook]

"Business is business and has nothing to do with patriotism."

Ridiculous. In other words, business could sell our military secrets to make a buck and that is OK for business. Also hiring foreigners instead of American citizens is putting money before country, sounds like Benedict Arnold.

If a business man like that was in charge of this country we would have lost WW II because our industry would have been exported to Germany, Japan and China.

[central_va]

then how are they supposed to save jobs in the first place?

Tariffs do nothing to stop competition between domestic manufacturers which hold down prices. They still have to compete with each other. Are you mentally challenged? You seem capable of writing a coherent sentence but seem to lack basic ability to reason.

[1rudeboy]

Dance around it any way you wish: you were whining about being insulted because I had the audacity to observe your logical fallacy. Stop being such a chick about it.

[dfwgator]

So according to them we should have just sold the Japanese our oil in the 1930s. Heck, why shouldn’t we have just outsourced our shipbuilding to Japan while we were it at?

[1rudeboy]

I like blue-collar lagers. And the 24oz can is a plus . . . 12oz cans get finished too quickly, and I can’t have too many rolling around the floorboards of my traitorious German car.

[1rudeboy]

Good Lord. Please take an econ class. Just one. Please.

[DoughtyOne]

Let me tell you a little story about lettuce.

The story used to be told like this.  Lettuce pickers made low wages.  When they would try to get their pay raised, people would state that the market just couldn't bear the added cost.

Then the facts came out.

The fact is, the field labor wage is a very small percentage of the overall cost of a head of lettuce.

A picker can pick an awful lot of lettuce heads in an hour.  Even if the wages were $20.00 an hour, the labor cost per head was quite minimal.  If a worker can pick 100 heads of lettuce an hour, the individual cost per head is $0.20 cents.  If you subtract what the old wage rate was, perhaps $8.00 and hour, you only see an increase in $0.12 cents per head.  Is $0.12 cents per head going to ruin the average family or restaurant wanting lettuce?  Of course not.  But that isn't the end of the story.

The cost of a head of lettuce is contingent on planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, sales to local distributors who mark up, sales to intermediate distributors who mark up, and the super-markets who mark up.  Labor is only one small component of the cost of a head of lettuce.  The additional cost of a head of lettuce, would be insignificant.

And if a wage rate was $20.00 per hour, guess what.  You don't need poor people from foreign nations to pick the lettuce.

[DoughtyOne]

Here, hope this helps:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2911916/posts?page=199#199

[3Fingas]

I prefer rum myself — Bacardi (US Territory, before you say anything).

Traitorous German car....lol — I guess that’s appropriate for this thread.

Although, we may disagree on the subject, there’s no reason not to be civil. A good sense of humor and a modicum of goodwill is necessary for civil discourse.

[1rudeboy]

Context, my dear, context. And for the last time, where are these FReepers that you found on your “logic trail” who think that trade (or lack thereof) with Germany would have prevented WWII?

[rurgan]

It seems like you are a free trader so of course you are for removing all trade restrictions against china. Funny that the U.S. was rising rapidly when we had a total trade embargo against China and the U.S. decline began with Clinton's free trade agreement with China .either you are for your free trade and therefore removing all trade restrictions or you are not. If you are for free trade then you also have to be for removing all immigration restrictions, you can't cherry pick what economic protections you want, you either have to be for removing all restrictions( open border) or not. Surely you don't want to deprive all the U.S. companies and Americans the freedom to import foreign workers who want to provide such cheap labor and services to Americans.

Yes we need to reduce taxes and regulations against all businesses but 2 wrongs don't make a right. We also need tariffs and more trade restriction against China. I am for a return to the full trade embargo against China. what can't we make here that is made in China. This is what your free trade created at our expense , in China:

[mo]

“And if a wage rate was $20.00 per hour, guess what...”

You don't need welfare benefits. Your constituency then SUPPORTS border integrity more aggressively...and the parasitic Federal and state bureaucrats are fewer in number?

Have I got it right?

[central_va]

Are you saying tariffs affect domestic prices(keeps them high) when there is domestic competition present? If so, these domestic competitors are colluding in price fixing and anti trust laws apply.

[khelus]

Corrupt politicians of both parties have ceded authority to the World Trade Organization. We may not technically have free trade with China or other countries hostile to our national interests, but since we are now subject to the dictates of the WTO, that is the practical effect. ... You have touched upon an important point.

"China enhanced its WTO membership with special breaks and loopholes that allow China to sell slave-manufactured goods worldwide but protect its own industries from foreign competition"
. . .
"The fine print in China's WTO agreement was in an attached document euphemistically labeled an "accession agreement," which gave China status as a "nonmarket economy" and spelled out thousands of details about special preferences for China. "

[1rudeboy]

I see that canard a lot. Tell me, if labor costs (financial or otherwise) are such an insignificant factor in business decisions, then why are auto plants locating in TN, AL, and SC over, say, CA, NY, and PA?

[1rudeboy]

Then why don’t we make the wage $40/hr? We’d all be rich!

[DoughtyOne]

Last I heard those states were still a part of our nation. Were you under the impression they weren’t?

In a word, “UNIONS!”

Is it your take that all jobs that left the U. S. were union jobs?

Probably so...

[central_va]

What you are saying is that I don't understand economics but the issue is you can't believe I am not in favor of paying less for widget A regardless of where it is produced. You cant get a grip that I, or any red blooded American for that matter, would be wiling to pay say 10% more for a US made widget A over a slave produced one. I must be retarded right to want to pay more?

There is nothing MORE expensive than cheap imports.

[1rudeboy]

Few things are more annoying on FR econ threads than people who ignore a stated position, and proceed to argue that I am stating the opposite. Didn’t read past your first sentence, sorry. Feel free to revise and resubmit.