Thursday, February 12, 2004
Can't Let the Rabble Overhear
President Bush tried today to backpedal from remarks made this week by the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, N. Gregory Mankiw, who said that the epidemic of US companies sending jobs overseas is a good thing:
Mr. Mankiw is not the only one saying that outsourcing is good for the economy. You can read that opinion any day of the week in the business section. Because it is good--for some people.
It's the same theory as always: lower costs (and taxes) produce higher profits which theoretically leads to growth and jobs--except for the jobs part, which are being created overseas where it's cheaper. But maybe, the believers continue to chant, if the profits keep up, well, someday hiring will pick up here. Maybe if folks had enough "training".
So Mr. Mankiw can be forgiven for thinking this way--they all do.
But he wasn't supposed to tell the plebes.
"Outsourcing is a growing phenomenon, but it's something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run," Mr. Mankiw said.The problem with Mr. Mankiw's remarks, for President Bush, is that they reveal how his administration and its supporters in big business actually feel.
Mr. Mankiw is not the only one saying that outsourcing is good for the economy. You can read that opinion any day of the week in the business section. Because it is good--for some people.
It's the same theory as always: lower costs (and taxes) produce higher profits which theoretically leads to growth and jobs--except for the jobs part, which are being created overseas where it's cheaper. But maybe, the believers continue to chant, if the profits keep up, well, someday hiring will pick up here. Maybe if folks had enough "training".
So Mr. Mankiw can be forgiven for thinking this way--they all do.
But he wasn't supposed to tell the plebes.
