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That Which Doesn't Matter and That Which Does

Wonder why I never mention the California Recall? Reason being...the election has minimal importance on what happens in the state, but at the same time, it's also because none of the candidates will likely win in '06. Gray Davis also might yet pull it out, so if that is the case, neither Cruz Bustamente, Ahnold, or Tom McClintock has a political future left. Furthermore, Schwarzengger refuses to anything but the most minimal number of debates. Who does this remind you of...perhaps a primary warrior named George W. Bush? Yes that's right, don't be fooled: this race is really between two robotic, career politicians in Bustamente and McClintock. Schwarzenegger has been the media darling so far, but the longer this campaign goes...the less substance he will be able to provide and look a lot like Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live saying "strategery".

So onto a story of mind-numbing complexity and importance to the future of the world. President Bush has sent Treasury Secretary John Snow to China on the hopes of getting Beijing to stop fixing the exchange rate between US and Chinese currency. In the Bush White House, this measure is seen as crucial to help making American-made manufacturing products more competitive worldwide. The Chinese have promised the following. Of course, there's no certainty yet as to the successfulness of the strategy. The problem is, Bush seemingly doesn't have a whole lot of other ideas how to revive the job market, especially in manufacturing.

So why, you ask, does it seem that all our jobs have gone to immigrant workers, outsourced, downsized, or just generally retired off? Well, the answer is that the idea of "skilled labor" has largely gone by the wayside. Firms that never would have operated plants, or outsourced to the Third World are willing to. Part of the reason is that the Cold War prevented many emerging economies from being competitive areas to run firms from. Don't get the wrong idea though: The firms are still operated by Americans, Europeans, and Japanese in the board room, but the underlings frequently become the lowest bidder. The flip side is that products do become cheaper on the world stage, but suddenly you have to find new jobs for the people you expect will buy those goods. In the US, this means that the majority of these people have gone into services, and with only limited success. How any person plans to stop the bleeding is a good question, but for Bush it could be a life-or-death political issue as well.

posted by Thomas at 9:33 PM 0 comments