World News Insights
1-3 Minute Gist
Search, personalize, or simply browse. Follow the world around you from gist and context to insights.
Who we are | Our Credo | Ways of using Lyrarc | FAQ | Send Feedback | First Letter From the Editor
Sign up. It's free and easy to use
Create an account
to personalize your feed of articles and topics.
All Topics Article
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Keywords:
Matthew Slaughter of the Tuck School, Dartmouth, says that the principle of comparitive advantage should determine what America exports and imports. Under comparitive advantage each country concentrates its energies on the particular goods and services that it does better than other countries. Free trade operates under the idea of comparitive advantage, but in practice it is quite different than its textbook economic counterpart. It is constantly changing as new countries or industries in different countries try to upset the existing pattern. Under a textbook example Airbus should not exist because Boeing was the most efficient manufacturer upto that time, and new entrants in a industry are nurtured for years with support from the governments of their countries. And in some situations the governments may exclude certain companies or industries from support such as Komatsu and construction equipment in postwar Japan, and Infosys and software outsourcing in India, and still survive and grow. Under comparitive advantage Japan should still be importing construction equipment from Caterpillar in the US, and there would be no serious competition in that industry. This would work to the detriment of the principle of competition in free trade which is just as important to free trade as the idea of comparitive advantage, with new entrants in an industry upsetting the old way of doing things and creating price/quality improvements. Slaughter simply pulls back off the shelf the old idea of comparitive advantage without seriously considering its real life aspects. Without dealing with trade distortion from currency manipulation, from the impact on jobs, without considering the continuing critical role of manufacturing in developed economies to provide the standards of living for a large middle class, and creating the kind of society that people of developed countries aspire to. He mentions GE's Immelt and the President's Council on Jobs, but makes no effort to engage Immelt 's statement in his recent op-ed article in the Washington Post, that the concept of transitioning from a export-oriented economic powerhouse to a services led consumption based economy could be done without loss of jobs, prosperity and prestige, was fundamentally wrong. He has only one line for manufacturing's role in America's economy. This line says knowledge intensive industries such as education and software are just as important as manufacturing, but fails to mention that manufacturing has received less attention in recent decades. In so doing he is discounting his own profession of concern for the high rate of joblessness in the U.S., and the need for a new focus on manufacturing in the U.S. to reverse that trend. By saying that imports are not a sign of failure but can raise standards of living, and leaving it at that, Slaughter does not acknowledge that consumer debt that US consumers have taken on in the process certainly affects future prospects for the US economy. And he makes no mention of the need for rebalancing the world economy, which is exactly how free trade should work ideally. Countries that have high imports export more to rebalance the world trading system, as currency valuations are allowed to adjust makig their exports more attractive. By not taking into account the realities of free trade, and the need for practical measures to rebalance without policy induced distortions by state run economies, Slaughter ignores the idea of free trade that works as it should and for all countries. The irony is that Immelt's own committment to jobs and competitiveness has been questioned in online blogs and most recently by an editorial in the Wall Street Journal on January 26, 2011, titled "The Misallocators." That editorial refers to the outsize role of GE Capital in GE's earnings during the past decade, and the lack of credibility of a focus on competitiveness and jobs that this creates for GE. It mentions the loss of 34,000 GE jobs in the US during the last decade.
Comparitive advantage, free trade, jobs and the role of manufacturing in the U.S.
07/01/2010
Grouped Articles
Does America Need Manufacturing?
New York Times 08/24/2011
Andy Grove: How America Can Create Jobs
BusinessWeek 07/01/2010
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2010
Bayer: Pressure on Prices Has Bad Side Effects
Wall Street Journal 02/07/2012
A part-timer boom, or blip? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/16/2014
Why Manufacturing Still Counts in the U.S. Economy
Wall Street Journal 01/14/2015
A realization that the idea of America transitioning to a services based economy without impairing jobs was fundamentally wrong
04/17/2006
The need for a strong and growing manufacturing base in the U.S. is one key realization for business leaders from the heads of Boeing, Intel and GE, and other business leaders to leaders in government. Failure to do this simply breeds a sense of pessimism about the future and creates an economy that leaves many productive people jobless, creates unsustainable trade deficits and foreign borrowing. Jeffrey Immelt says this in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post on the day he is appointed to head the President's Council on Jobs.
Grouped Articles
Does America Need Manufacturing?
New York Times 08/24/2011
Andy Grove: How America Can Create Jobs
BusinessWeek 07/01/2010
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2010
New York Times 02/08/2012
Growth isn’t enough to help the middle class - The Washington Post
Washington Post 02/14/2013
Why Manufacturing Still Counts in the U.S. Economy
Wall Street Journal 01/14/2015
GE Capital (General Electric)
03/07/2009
Grouped Articles
GE to Exit Retail Lending, Tightening Focus on Industrial Businesses
Wall Street Journal 11/17/2013
New York Times 03/07/2009
GE Is in Talks to Buy Alstom's Energy Business
Wall Street Journal 04/25/2014
GE Weighs Deeper Cuts in Banking Arm
Wall Street Journal 03/13/2015
Investor Group to Buy GE Capital’s Australia, New Zealand Consumer-Lending Unit
Wall Street Journal 03/16/2015
GE CEO Notes Banking Arm’s Weak Returns
Wall Street Journal 03/17/2015
The mounting toll of joblessness on America.
06/06/2009
The emotional toll on parents and children is mounting with depression, mental illess, and struggle for basic necessities is showing up for the unemployed millions in America. The serious problem of the long term unemployed in the U.S., very different from any previous recession.
Grouped Articles
More Men in Prime Working Ages Don't Have Jobs
Wall Street Journal 02/06/2014
It's Still Bad for the Long Term Unemployed
New York Times 04/04/2014
Yellen’s Not on Team Krueger When it Comes to Inflation and the Unemployed
Wall Street Journal 04/16/2014
Stuck at Unemployed: When A Layoff Becomes a Lifestyle
Washington Post 06/06/2009
Poll Shows Mounting Toll of Joblessness on Nation
New York Times 12/15/2009
New York Times 12/23/2009
Chimerica as economic monster and the 10-10 deal, 10% growth in China and 10% unemployment in the USA.
11/16/2009
Niall Ferguson at Harvard and Moritz Schularick of the Free University of Berlin say giving a peaceful death to this monster is long overdue. Krugman also calls this a world out of balance on the pages of the NYT, November 16, 2009.
Grouped Articles
China Will Keep Growing. Just Ask the Soviets.
New York Times 10/24/2014
Apple Says App Store Sales Rose 50% in 2014
Wall Street Journal 01/09/2015
New York Times 11/16/2009
New York Times 11/16/2009
China and the American Jobs Machine
Wall Street Journal 11/17/2009
Why the Chinese don’t spend : The New Yorker
New Yorker 01/04/2010
Rising Unemployment in the U.S. in 2010.
06/06/2009
Grouped Articles
Stuck at Unemployed: When A Layoff Becomes a Lifestyle
Washington Post 06/06/2009
Labor Market Takes a Shot To the Gut
Wall Street Journal 06/05/2010
Mystery for the White House: Where did the Jobs Go?
New York Times 07/19/2010
California's Building Bust Choking Off Jobs
Wall Street Journal 07/29/2010
Job Crisis: Machines Over Manpower
BusinessWeek 07/29/2010
Wall Street Journal 08/06/2010
Unemployment aid in the US- 2010-2011
12/03/2010
Grouped Articles
Millions Bracing for Cutoff of Unemployment Aid
New York Times 12/03/2010
Comparing Recoveries: Job Changes
New York Times 01/07/2011
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
In Florida, the Unemployed May Face Deep Cuts in Benefits
New York Times 03/31/2011
In Missouri, Extension of Unemployment Pay Is Blocked
New York Times 03/31/2011
The performance of socially conscious economies of Europe and the U.S. economy compared.
01/11/2010
Why Europe compares favorably with the US economy in areas like unemployment when looking at the 24-54 working age group, technology adoption, economic growth when you factor out population growth in the USA, and with higher taxes offset by social benefits for large segments of society.
Grouped Articles
New York Times 04/13/2013
More Men in Prime Working Ages Don't Have Jobs
Wall Street Journal 02/06/2014
Growth isn’t enough to help the middle class - The Washington Post
Washington Post 02/14/2013
New York Times 01/11/2010
New York Times 02/09/2010
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
The shift to part-time workers, lower incomes and the U.S. unemployment rate- 2008 -2014
03/08/2008
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
New York Times 06/22/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
Wall Street Journal 08/12/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/17/2010
Confronting Old Problem May Require a New Deal
New York Times 01/28/2014
High unemployment and declining wages in the U.S.: 2010-2012
01/01/2010
Grouped Articles
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
Wall Street Journal 08/12/2013
No longer the land of opportunity - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/05/2012
Recovery Has Created Far More Low-Wage Jobs Than Better-Paid Ones
New York Times 04/27/2014
The world economy: Wealth without workers, workers without wealth
Economist 10/06/2014
Falling Wages at Factories Squeeze the Middle Class
New York Times 11/20/2014
Andy Grove and the scaling up at home that American companies need to do.
05/29/2010
Andy Grove brushes off talk of sending technologies and jobs much needed at home to China, with the talk he hears of "a China strategy." He doesn't see how an America with high paying jobs and mass of unemployed could work. He says American companies have failed to scale up, the way Intel did in the seventies. For every Apple employee there are 10 employees in China working on Mac's, Iphones, and Ipads. The idea of manufacturing as not important is misguided and he would like to see America rebuild its industrial base.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/29/2010
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2010
Apple Says App Store Sales Rose 50% in 2014
Wall Street Journal 01/09/2015
After Michigan Loss, Hillary Clinton Sharpens Message on Jobs and Trade
New York Times 03/09/2016
Andy Grove: How America Can Create Jobs
BusinessWeek 07/01/2010
Yuan Revaluation for China's Own Sake
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2010
Skepticism about the appointment of Jeffrey Immelt of GE (General Electric) to head the President's Council on Jobs
04/02/2009
Immelt was appointed to head the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness in January 2011. A review of blogs following the appointment by Harshaw of the New York Times showed skepticism considering the role GE is playing in transfer of jobs and technology to China, negligible corporate taxes paid by GE, GE's need for bailout funds of $16 billion for its finance unit, and the lack a position for removal of distortions in trade practiced by other trading partners including China.
Grouped Articles
Jeff Immelt’s Overhaul of GE Impeded by Falling Oil Prices
Wall Street Journal 03/03/2015
New York Times 01/21/2011
Volcker Out, Immelt in On Economic Board
New York Times 01/21/2011
New York Times 01/23/2011
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
Lost generation. High jobless rate for younger workers in the U.S.
01/08/2011
Grouped Articles
Germany Works to Curb European Youth Unemployment
New York Times 05/22/2013
Why the Housing Market Is Still Stalling the Economy
New York Times 04/24/2014
New York Times 06/07/2014
Young Americans: Left out in the rain
Economist 01/08/2011
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
New York Times 05/05/2011
How the economic crisis is affecting the U.S. as joblessness increases and people exhaust unemployment benefits.
07/10/2009
The situation in states like Michigan with the auto industry hit hard, and in other parts of the country.
Grouped Articles
Recipients of Jobless Benefits Down Sharply
Wall Street Journal 12/26/2014
Detroit's Food Banks Strain to Serve Middle Class
Wall Street Journal 07/10/2009
Part-Time Workers Mask Unemployment Woes
New York Times 07/15/2009
Jobs Report Highlights Shaky U.S. Recovery
New York Times 10/03/2009
It Will Be Years Before Lost Jobs Return -- and Many Never Will
Wall Street Journal 10/05/2009
BusinessWeek 10/09/2009
Fragility of social cohesion in the U.S. with unemployment concentrated in the lower middle and working classes.
03/11/2009
Figures from the Center of Labor Market Studies of Northeastern University in Boston showing unemployment of 9% in the $40,000 to $50,000 annual household income group and going up to 31% at the lowest income group. Higher inequality as differences in education between lower income and higher income Americans grows. The problem of the long term unemployed is a serious one.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2011
Japan Is a Model Not a Cautionary Tale
New York Times 06/09/2013
New York Times 06/22/2013
OECD report cites rising income inequality - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/06/2011
U.S. Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2013
The Great Stagnation in American Education
New York Times 09/07/2013
Why high unemployment in the U.S. is expected for 2010-2014
06/06/2009
Structural problems like a mismatch of skills between maufacturing and construction sectors worst hit since 2008 and growing sectors like healthcare is one problem. Geographic factors and difficulty selling homes in states like Michigan is another. The tighter credit from a return of banking sector losses from bad home equity loans that is expected in late 2010 will keep the recovery from taking hold keeping unemployment high. The economic uncertainty following repeated budget battles between political parties also affects business investment.
Grouped Articles
90 Million Americans Not Working
Wall Street Journal 10/23/2013
Hiring Slowdown Blurs Growth View
Wall Street Journal 01/20/2014
Confronting Old Problem May Require a New Deal
New York Times 01/28/2014
More Men in Prime Working Ages Don't Have Jobs
Wall Street Journal 02/06/2014
New York Times 04/05/2012
Hiring Is Strong and Jobless Rate Declines to 6.1%
New York Times 07/03/2014
Unemployment and partime unemployment in the U.S. economy 2008 and beyond.
04/18/2008
How unemployment is shaping up and how the underutilization rate and partime employment is changing the picture of employment in the USA.
Grouped Articles
Stuck at Unemployed: When A Layoff Becomes a Lifestyle
Washington Post 06/06/2009
Workers Get Fewer Hours, Deepening the Downturn
New York Times 04/18/2008
Many Hispanics Are Hit Hard by Economic Slump
New York Times 05/13/2008
A Hidden Toll on Employment: Cut to Part Time
New York Times 07/31/2008
Retail Losses Sap a Jobs Safety Net
Wall Street Journal 11/11/2008
Labor Data Show Pain Across Economy
Wall Street Journal 11/08/2008
Experts who agree that its beneficial for the U.S. to lift exports through devaluation of the currency.
10/15/2009
This includes Krugman, recent Nobel Prize winner, Morici, University of Maryland, Hatzius of Goldman and Kasman of JP Morgan. Other experts also welcome the depreciation ogf the dollar as long as it is not a sudden drop. With consumers strapped, quantitiative easing reaching its limits, the stimulus in place, rising unemployment in 2010 and very poor capacity utilization, exports are a sure way to lift the economy. Morici and Krugman see a Chinese disconnect with it siphonig growth away from other countries through keeping its currency low. Morici cites the example of solar panels where China requires 75% domestic content for imports.
Grouped Articles
Cities Adapt With Mixed Results
Wall Street Journal 09/27/2011
Wall Street Journal 10/04/2011
The Engine That Pulled Us Out of Recession
Wall Street Journal 03/19/2015
Cheaper Chinese Currency Has Global Impact
Wall Street Journal 08/12/2015
U.S. Strains Mount After China Devalues Yuan
Wall Street Journal 08/12/2015
Peter Morici: Behind the Dollar's Dog Days
BusinessWeek 10/15/2009
The nature of unemployment in this U.S. downturn as men, young people and the less educated are the worst hit groups.
03/11/2009
In this US downturn men are hit harder than women with job losses in manufacturing and construction, the less educated hit hardest, and young people also hit hard.
Grouped Articles
New York Times 06/22/2013
Wanted: Jobs for the New 'Lost' Generation
Wall Street Journal 09/14/2013
Women Reach a Milestone in Job Market
Wall Street Journal 11/18/2013
Andy Grove: How America Can Create Jobs
BusinessWeek 07/01/2010
Wall Street Journal 10/02/2010
More Men in Prime Working Ages Don't Have Jobs
Wall Street Journal 02/06/2014
How a services-led consumption based economy has failed America through a loss of jobs, prosperity and prestige.
01/21/2011
Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, says the concept that the US could transition from a technology based export-oriented economic powerhouse to a services-led consumption based economy was fundamentally wrong. Mathew Slaughter of the Tuck School, Dartmouth, in a WSJ op-ed piece argues for a textbook principle of comparitive advantage, without considering the way it operates in a real the real world situation facing America as it struggles for economic renewal.
Linked Articles
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
Jeffrey R. Immelt - A blueprint for keeping America competitive
Washington Post 01/21/2011
How textbook ideas belittle the important role of maufacturing in the U.S.
01/26/2011
Linked Articles
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
Dow Chemical's CEO on How to Revive Manufacturing
Wall Street Journal 02/23/2012
GE's Immelt and questions about the focus on US jobs and competitiveness
01/21/2011
Linked Articles
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
New York Times 01/21/2011
America, Jobs, and Competitiveness- (4) "Getting it right" on Comparitive Advantage and Free Trade, Dartmouth's Matthew Slaughter and the NYT's Louis Uchitelle
01/26/2011
Linked Articles
Comparative Advantage and American Jobs
Wall Street Journal 01/26/2011
U.S. Manufacturing Decline Raises Concern About Innovation
New York Times 02/12/2011
We took a different way to help millions around the world build educated informed mindsets that affects and shapes their lives. For a future that is open, global and digital, with everyone having access to high quality information. We believe in the renewal of America, renewal of Europe, the renewal of India, the rest of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The renewal of our supply chains, health, education, infrastructure, as we rebuild our countries after the pandemic. Literacy and knowledge we believe cannot thrive and grow in a world of web bots, web crawlers, or AI. This requires human curiosity, human learning, and human imagination. We take as inspiration the saying- “One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear, only then can truth shine in it.” Every contribution whether big or small is precious- in this crisis and ahead.
Support Lyrarc from as small as $1
Terms and Conditions | Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
