In today’s New York Times, David Brooks offers a critique of Sen. Barack Obama’s remarks to AAM’s Pittsburgh candidate forum (”A speech about nothing”) that ignores some basic facts.

Brooks  suggests there “is little evidence that trade has been a major cause of job loss or even wage stagnation” and instead touts “technological change” as the driver of “anxiety” for America’s “struggling working class.” 

In truth, foreign producers have access to the same advanced technology as U.S. producers.  As such, their only competitive advantage is to utilize predatory trade practices in order to produce more cheaply.  What Sens. Obama and Clinton discussed at AAM’s forum is that China is violating the rules of world trade when it artificially manipulates its currency to gain a price advantage.  When U.S. workers fret about foreign cheating that robs them of good paying jobs, they’re right to be concerned.  For Mr. Brooks to suggest otherwise is patronizing, elitist, and simply ignorant.

##

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 9:18 pm and is filed under Manufacturing in the U.S., Economic Security, Enforcing Trade Laws, AAM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.