Upward wealth redistribution is not a result of the market

[PETRUS]

<snip>

It is very useful to the One Percent to pretend that their wealth and the near stagnation in living standards for everyone else is just the result of "the further development of technology and globalization." However this has nothing to do with reality.

Globalization has hurt the living standards of the middle class because it was designed to have this effect. Trade agreements like NAFTA were quite explicitly designed to make it as easy as possible for General Electric and other manufacturers set up operations in the developing world and export their output back to the United States. This has the effect of putting U.S. manufacturing workers in direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world.

We could have designed these deals to put our doctors, lawyers, economists and other highly paid professionals in direct competition with their much lower paid counterparts in the developing world. We could have constructed trade deals that remove all the obstacles that make it difficult for students in China, India, and elsewhere and to train to U.S. standards and then practice their professions in the United States.

If globalization had followed this path it would have produced enormous benefits to both the middle class and the economy as a whole. We would be able to get health care, university education and many other services provided by highly paid professionals at much lower cost.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/david-ignatius-hides-upward-redistribution-policies-as-market-outcomes

More at the link.

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. Everything about this world is managed to keep us competing for one another's jobs.

I envision a big pressure gauge mounted over Bernanke's desk. The red zone at the right is labeled "comfortable workers", the yellow zone on the left is labeled "riots and disorder". The green zone is where we are, where only capital gets any benefit and the rest of us scramble for crumbs.

[SixthSense]

2. his job

is to keep the needle bouncing on the edge of the yellow zone, the profit maximum

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. Great article! Many that I've mentioned this to, say I'm wrong, and here it is in print:

"GLOBALIZATION HAS HURT THE LIVING STANDARDS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED TO HAVE THIS EFFECT. Trade agreements like NAFTA were quite explicitly designed to make it as easy as possible for General Electric and other manufacturers set up operations in the developing world and export their output back to the United States. This has the effect of putting U.S. manufacturing workers in direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world."

I've even heard Democrats say that trade agreements are good and necessary. How misguided people who say that are. They're neither good nor necessary, except for the 1% to suck all the money out of the rest.