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Given the technological base China is creating, that will not be true 10-20 years from now. Even now we are militarily overextended.

I think, a reality check is in order. China has never produced it's own weapon system - every Chinese tank, plane, howitzer, and APC has been manufactured under license from Soviet Union. Chinese Army is not even capable of mounting an invasion of Taiwan, let alone posing a viable threat to the United States. Having said that, it would be foolish to discount any potential threat in the next 20 years - after all we could have Howard Dean as out Commander in Chief in the near future. (Now there is a scary thought - I bet he could do more damage to our military then any amount of foreign competition over the next 20 years!)

Then you also know that they get something like two months vacation and generally work 9-5. It is true that their prices are higher but they have a much easier quality of life than we do. So it's a cultural choice.

It's more of a law then a choice (at least in France, and to a lesser extent, in Germany). In US you always have a chance to work less (and earn less money). This would effectively make everything more expensive - just like in Europe.

Our IT industry ? Again, our technological base is being transferred to Asia. IT consulting is hardly a narrow field when senior American analysts and engineers cannot find work. It is a wholesale decimation of our technological intelligentsia. Who these days would go into computer science or electrical engineering as a field ? Extrapolate that 10-20 years into the future and what does that tell you about our ability to remain the preeminent technological superpower ?

Let's do an experiment - let's make a list of computer companies. Other then Sony, most people would be hard pressed to name any non-US companies. How about large system integrators? (Hint: IBM, HP, Accenture, etc.) While most cell phones are not manufactured in US vast majority of manufacturing companies are licensing American technology (from Qualcom), except, that is, Motorola (another American Company). How about software? Take a look at Forbes 500 - out of top 10 companies, 8 or 9 (depending on the year) are American. American companies, likewise, dominate that rest of the list.

I do not know what will happen in the next 20 years. But I do know that in the past 20 years our leadership over the rest of the world increased dramatically. So extrapolating from that base makes me feel pretty secure.

Free trade briefly resulted in benefits for college educated workers at the direct expense of the jobs of non college educated American workers. Now, obviously, college educated workers are seeing that their "high quality new jobs" can be exported to Asia to be done at a fraction of their salaries. They are in precisely the same boat manufacturing workers are.

It has been just about 10 years since NAFTA was ratified; 20 years since US initiated serious attempts at trade liberalization. We are now at, what I believe is, an end of a recession (when unemployment rates tend to be the highest), yet we have, about, 6% unemployment. This number compares very favorably with lowest unemployment rates in the 70s and 80s. (Any one knows what unemployment was liked in the 60s?)

I think, a reality check is in order. China has never produced it's own weapon system - every Chinese tank, plane, howitzer, and APC has been manufactured under license from Soviet Union. Chinese Army is not even capable of mounting an invasion of Taiwan, let alone posing a viable threat to the United States.

China is developing the technological and industrial base to take the US on in an arms race 10-20 years from now and win. Equal or greater population. High tech. Resource base. World class industrial exporter. Every previous adversary we faced had only two of these attributes. Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union. China already has three of the above. In 10 years it will have all of the above.

Then you also know that they get something like two months vacation and generally work 9-5. It is true that their prices are higher but they have a much easier quality of life than we do. So it's a cultural choice.

It's more of a law then a choice (at least in France, and to a lesser extent, in Germany). In US you always have a chance to work less (and earn less money). This would effectively make everything more expensive - just like in Europe.

Gee, I always figured that in democracies laws reflected cultural choices. The Europeans chose the easy life by taking themselves out of the great power business. Their costs are greater but they have chosen cradle to grave security as their priority.

Let's do an experiment - let's make a list of computer companies. Other then Sony, most people would be hard pressed to name any non-US companies.

Is there such a thing as a US multinational ? Do you think such institutions think in terms of national economies ? Again, you are stuck in the past. Already China is exporting computers. Given the massive transfers of technology and personnel base they are creating it is only a matter of time.

It has been just about 10 years since NAFTA was ratified; 20 years since US initiated serious attempts at trade liberalization. We are now at, what I believe is, an end of a recession (when unemployment rates tend to be the highest), yet we have, about, 6% unemployment. This number compares very favorably with lowest unemployment rates in the 70s and 80s. (Any one knows what unemployment was liked in the 60s?)

If you check www.bls.gov you will see that when discouraged workers are counted in it comes to 10.2% which is what it was in 1940. And that counts people who are vastly underemployed as employed.

Let's do an experiment - let's make a list of computer companies. Other then Sony, most people would be hard pressed to name any non-US companies. How about large system integrators? (Hint: IBM, HP, Accenture, etc.) While most cell phones are not manufactured in US vast majority of manufacturing companies are licensing American technology (from Qualcom), except, that is, Motorola (another American Company). How about software? Take a look at Forbes 500 - out of top 10 companies, 8 or 9 (depending on the year) are American. American companies, likewise, dominate that rest of the list.

As a response noted, however, alot of hese 'American' companies are really taiwan-sourced. Look at Dell! It's not a weakness for American companies to globally source, it is a STRENGTH of competitiveness.

This is why excessive tariffs and quotas may be counterproductive, ironically. American companies that go *anywhere in the world* to get the lowest cost and best quality can beat out the Japanese at their own game. We can beat European companies, tied down by rigid govt policies.

And in the process it keeps and saves US jobs. Btw, Motorola makes cell phones in Asia and the US. and companies like Solectron have US manufacturing but are moving more and more to China. Yet a lot of hig-paid wages are still out of the US for them.

More scary: China is now making .18um semiconductors. ... the technology gap is shrinking. So this is the irony: We can keep our lead and our American company competitiveness, but NOT if we raise walls that stop our global US-led companies from competing as best-in-class around the world. Trying to "save" American industry with trade walls will actually *destroy* (think of Dell again) what we hope to save.