Where the Good Jobs Are Going

Abroad, one can do 3 things with dollars-- they can buy American products (lowering the trade deficit), invest in the American economy (lowering our interest rates and boosting the capital needed for new American industries), or keep the currency to spend as legitimate currency in their own country.

shhhh -- you are giving away the secret. places like Japan send us a beautiful piece of metal called a Lexus, Germany sends us a BMW, and we send them... pieces of paper! economics is wild craft and things are not always as they seem. in my view, the US government's attempts (and successes) at talking down the value of the US dollar are brilliant, and the EU hasn't figured out yet that they are the real losers -- a "strong currency" is not always a good thing...

one of the most important concepts to be absolutely clear about is the difference between wealth and money...

I am not a troll. I just see things from a different perspective. I am a full fledged republican who sees that corporations today do not look to the future. They are strictly focused on profit today. Those of us who oppose the loss of jobs to foreign countries see this as a gradual, irreversable loss to our economy. I can't live by paper transfers that make stockbrockers and bankers rich. Seriously, that is the motivating factor of life in the U.S. today. How can I get rich and to hell with the next guy.

By limited production of goods I am including food, clothing and oil in Japans limits. They import all of these items as they have very limited natural resources. Even the steel for the cars they make is imported. Perhaps I mispoke. They have very limited raw materials where as we have all we need. Even oil if we were allowed to get at it.

We do have all we need here. Are we not the worlds farmer? Granted, we do import some raw materials but the bulk we have.

Japan has very limited raw materials where as we have all we need. Even oil if we were allowed to get at it.

You should be careful about making such claims at FR. This is not Usenet or some other board where one can get away making outlandish statements. Opening up every possible field in the Gulf, CA and Alaska would provide the US with less than its projected oil requirements through the next decade. Ultimately, while we have many other abundent natural resources, we're no better off than the Japanese when it comes to what matters most: oil.

Oil is very important, I agree. However, I don't think it's more important than food. I don't think it's an outlandish statement. Be series. Doesn't Japan import something like 80% of everthing it needs to survive.

I still say if we were at a trade surplus or even with the rest of the world we would be much better off. I don't have the solution. I have nowhere in my posts suggested tarrifs or any other government interference.

I do, however, worry about the future of our country. I see greed and avarice all around. It's not what made this country great. It was all of America working toward the goal of building a great nation encouraging national pride and a sense of oneness.

Do you see anything like that today? I don't. We have been divided along so many lines by the social reconstructionists, the corporate greed mentality and the political panderers that we can no longer call ourselves one nation. We have become a nation of factions all battling each other for the almighty dollar whether it comes from taxes or through wages. We compete with each other on every level. Kids now have to consider their college choices and begin preparing their IRA's, Roth's etc. when in grade school.

This does not bode well for the future. I was raised to treat your fellow man as you would like to be treated. This new mentality of getting mine and to hell with the rest of you goes against that. However, I am going to be forced to teach my son that he is going to have to get his first and to hell with the others. Take what you can when you can or you will not survive. It saddens me.

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