I think Friedman gets this one right. The Democrats may very well try to play the protectionist game concerning the U.S. economy vis-vis-China and Asia because it appeals to so many people in their gut. Unfortunately, the forces at work are too large and are arrayed against that strategy. A protectionist strategy will be no more than pandering to people to tell them what they want to hear.
"China, in other words, is inevitably going to move back to the center of U.S. politics, because it crystallizes the economic challenges faced by U.S. workers in the 21st century. The big question for me is, how will President Bush and the Democratic Congress use China: as a scapegoat or a Sputnik?
Will they use it as an excuse to avoid doing the hard things, because itÂ?s all just ChinaÂ?s fault, or as an excuse to rally the country Â? as we did after the Soviets leapt ahead of us in the space race and launched Sputnik Â? to make the kind of comprehensive changes in health care, portability of pensions, entitlements and lifelong learning to give AmericaÂ?s middle class the best tools possible to thrive? A lot of history is going to turn on that answer, because if people donÂ?t feel they have the tools or skills to thrive in a world without walls, the pressure to put up walls, especially against China, will steadily mount."
No comments:
Post a Comment