I heard a radio discussion this morning by two people who supposedly understand economics. The main points of the discussion were 1) that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will hurt America and 2) that illegal immigration does not hurt American workers because the problems of those workers are due to lack of effort. The style of the discussion was much like one would hear on NPR or some college panel discussion. The substance of the discussion, however, reminded me for the most part of dogs barking. There was a lot of noise, but no meaning or substance.
Let me start with the illegal immigration part. The professor I heard actually said that while the lower wages and benefits paid to illegals helps them get a few jobs, the driving issue for job problems of American workers is that they don't try hard enough. They leave at 5:00 instead of staying later to get their work done. They take their breaks and lunch hours completely even if there is work to do. They talk back to the boss if they are unhappy about something he or she has said or done. While he did not use these words, this supposedly educated guy basically called the American workers lazy, ignorant and insufficiently subservient to the boss. It was truly bizarre to hear. After all, the speakers were all clearly liberal Democrats, but they were just blaming the American workers for all of their problems while giving the illegal immigrants a free pass. It seemed as if these libs felt that in order to support the favored minority of the moment (illegal aliens), they had to go back to an outlook on the average American worker that would have been harsh for a Social Darwinist.
Then they spoke about the trade deal. This same group thought the TPP would destroy the USA. They said that TPP would pit American workers against the laborers in the other member countries who would take lower wages and benefits to do the same work. This, they said, would make it impossible for America to compete.
Since this was a totally liberal group, no one asked the question why foreign workers abroad with lower wages and benefits were unfair competition for American workers while foreign workers in the USA illegally who get lower wages and benefits were not unfair competition for those same workers. It would have been a fun question to hear, but the response of five minutes of stuttering followed by calling the questioner racist would probably have been bad radio.
Some day, someone is going to have to break it to the liberals that there really are economic principles that govern our economy.
Let me start with the illegal immigration part. The professor I heard actually said that while the lower wages and benefits paid to illegals helps them get a few jobs, the driving issue for job problems of American workers is that they don't try hard enough. They leave at 5:00 instead of staying later to get their work done. They take their breaks and lunch hours completely even if there is work to do. They talk back to the boss if they are unhappy about something he or she has said or done. While he did not use these words, this supposedly educated guy basically called the American workers lazy, ignorant and insufficiently subservient to the boss. It was truly bizarre to hear. After all, the speakers were all clearly liberal Democrats, but they were just blaming the American workers for all of their problems while giving the illegal immigrants a free pass. It seemed as if these libs felt that in order to support the favored minority of the moment (illegal aliens), they had to go back to an outlook on the average American worker that would have been harsh for a Social Darwinist.
Then they spoke about the trade deal. This same group thought the TPP would destroy the USA. They said that TPP would pit American workers against the laborers in the other member countries who would take lower wages and benefits to do the same work. This, they said, would make it impossible for America to compete.
Since this was a totally liberal group, no one asked the question why foreign workers abroad with lower wages and benefits were unfair competition for American workers while foreign workers in the USA illegally who get lower wages and benefits were not unfair competition for those same workers. It would have been a fun question to hear, but the response of five minutes of stuttering followed by calling the questioner racist would probably have been bad radio.
Some day, someone is going to have to break it to the liberals that there really are economic principles that govern our economy.
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