US ready to return to moon

The Telegraph ^ | 03 Feb 2014 | David Millward

[tom h]

"Bring back jobs, to America. Now."

Dude, we're fellow conservatives so I can't let your categorical statement rest as is. Who exactly is going to "bring back jobs - NOW"? Or how will it be done?

A Stalinist would demand that industry comply or they would be subject to fines, imprisonment, or death. Wouldn't work here.

Democrats and progressives in Congress would pass punitive laws for businesses who have more than, say, 50% of their work done overseas. Great. The businesses would sell off the stuff done in China and get into businesses that aren't covered by the new legislation. The net effect would be no new jobs. Wouldn't work as well.

Impose tariffs on imports from China, India, and elsewhere. Great. Now you introduce inflation to the American economy, and those of us over 45 remember just how wonderful inflationary times were to the economy. Wouldn't work.

Practically speaking, the reason jobs are exported is not because the businessman of the 21st century is more greedy than those in the past. No. It's because a flatter world allows free movement of goods and services 12,000 miles, across the globe. Also, because the wages in the countries making the products consumed by Americas are extremely low.

If you only want to bring back manufacturing jobs to America (e.g., textiles, cars, etc.) do one simple thing. Raise the standard of living in China and India high enough that the cost of labor there equals the cost of labor here. Good thought, but it won't happen for maybe another 50 years.

But if you can get fixated off of "bringing jobs back to America," and become fixated onto higher-paying blue collar jobs for America, here's what you can do:

1. Eliminate 80% of the regulations promulgated by Federal and State governments. Meaning, unshackle business.
2. Fire 80% of the bureaucrats doing environmental work, at the federal and state level.
3. Allow oil and gas drilling offshore in California, Virginia, and elsewhere. Let's pull our wealth out of the ground.
4. Allow fracking in California and other states like New York where the environmentalists run amok.
5. Allow mining to happen again, on federal and state lands.

Do this and business will flourish in America. I say this as a small business owner myself.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

“Impose tariffs on imports from China, India, and elsewhere. Great. Now you introduce inflation to the American economy, and those of us over 45 remember just how wonderful inflationary times were to the economy. Wouldn’t work. “

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Well we are on opposite sides, of this question then.

Tariffs would work, in my view.

In fact, they may be the only answer. Bring back US jobs.

Now.

[tom h]

Well, friend, I appreciate your sentiments but the linearity in your thinking will have you shouting “bring back US jobs NOW” into the heavens until you take your last breath, and none of those jobs will come back regardless. Not without some practical thinking about how to do it.

Best of wishes —