By Leo Brown
[President Obama's Weekly Address]
Though China can produce goods more cheaply, "we can make things better." And the cost of setting up shop abroad is rising. And so, the President says, with middle-class families struggling through a slow recovery, we need to give tax breaks to companies that manufacture at home, and not the other way around.
Apple springs to mind. Apple has taken a torrent of flack over the past few weeks as human rights organizations, including SumOfUs.org and Change.org, have singled out the labor conditions of its factories in China.
President Obama doesn't mention this controversy. Instead, he announces that "we can make things better," by which presumably he means 'higher quality,' a claim that anyone who has laid their hands on an iPhone knows is false. Even if products 'Made in America' were, once upon a time, objectively better than imports, this is no longer so. The myth of American exceptionalism is a wan distraction from the threats and opportunities of emerging economies.
President Obama doesn't mention this controversy. Instead, he announces that "we can make things better," by which presumably he means 'higher quality,' a claim that anyone who has laid their hands on an iPhone knows is false. Even if products 'Made in America' were, once upon a time, objectively better than imports, this is no longer so. The myth of American exceptionalism is a wan distraction from the threats and opportunities of emerging economies.
Apple, and plenty of other companies, have figured out a way to manufacture goods abroad both cheaply and well. This leaves the President with only one indisputable leg of his argument: that jobs continue to seep offshore, and the government needs to stem the tide as our nation gropes for a semblance of economic vitality.
Tax breaks for companies that manufacture in our country make complete sense. This is a straightforward approach to leveling the playing field in our country of high living costs and stringent labor laws. The President would strengthen his argument by acknowledging the disparity between American labor laws and those of China, India, and other outsourcing hubs. Perhaps this is what he means by saying that "we can make things better," but we can't afford to grant President Obama the benefit of the doubt.
The iPhone may never come home. But if the President wants to bring any jobs back to America, he needs to make a clear case that labor conditions abroad are unacceptable and come down hard on companies that pay little heed to the rights of their employees. Not only could this be considered a moral obligation, it would be a much more compelling case for moving jobs home than "we want them back."
Ignoring the problem won't make it go away, and waxing eloquent about the quality of American goods won't move the bottom line. The President wants to adjust the tax code, and there is a good reason to do it; we are waiting for him to spell it out.
Tax breaks for companies that manufacture in our country make complete sense. This is a straightforward approach to leveling the playing field in our country of high living costs and stringent labor laws. The President would strengthen his argument by acknowledging the disparity between American labor laws and those of China, India, and other outsourcing hubs. Perhaps this is what he means by saying that "we can make things better," but we can't afford to grant President Obama the benefit of the doubt.
The iPhone may never come home. But if the President wants to bring any jobs back to America, he needs to make a clear case that labor conditions abroad are unacceptable and come down hard on companies that pay little heed to the rights of their employees. Not only could this be considered a moral obligation, it would be a much more compelling case for moving jobs home than "we want them back."
Ignoring the problem won't make it go away, and waxing eloquent about the quality of American goods won't move the bottom line. The President wants to adjust the tax code, and there is a good reason to do it; we are waiting for him to spell it out.
