ack32

I don't understand, this economic protectionism is pretty dangerous. Are you saying that you don't believe in free trade? Because the ability to move jobs back and forth and trade goods with other countries is what is going to make the world economy work... it's Econ 101.

The problem is with such strong unions in the US, corporations have their hands tied when dealing with US workers. When the longshoremen had the strike at the docks on the west coast, people were infuriated because they were asking for more money when they already were making $90K+. You see instances of this happening in many industries, where American workers are paid much more than their foreign counterparts for identical commodity-type jobs. Many companies are also stuck with strict hiring/firing agreements with the unions that prevent them from being nimble and effective.

The objective tack is that the economics of free trade ensure that everyone wins in the long run, in that more goods are produced and prices remain low. Everybody loves cheap Nike shoes (various Asian countries), bananas and coffee (South America) and Intel computer chips (Malaysia). It makes no sense to protect or subsidize established industries (other than for national security purposes), it just fosters an uncompetetive and inefficient environment.

The end result is that there has to be a reason to keep a job in the US at a higher pay than an overseas job. And just to be "keeping jobs in the US" isn't a good reason, in my humble opinion.