Re: More on Outsourcing and Offshoring

["Gary Santos" <evs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mason,

The same Chinese (and Taiwanese) garlic hit the Philippines and what
formerly cost P90 per kilo is now sold at P30 per kilo. Garlic farmers have
suffered obviously. Globalization and comparative advantage necessarily
meant deflation as "economies adjust".

I am sure neoliberal economists would still defend the idea and we will have
the likes of John Williamson say that "they" never said trade liberalization
should take place in some shock treatment type of implementation. Well,
that's correct, I think. They never said so. But, neither did they open
their mouths when the shock treatment was implemented.

I ask the same questions you do and I wonder if we should go back to
"looking inward" developing domestic industry with tariff protection,
quantitative restrictions, some deficit spending and moderate inflation. I
just told someone in TNF that the US can always turn its back on
liberalization, raise tariffs and thereby get US manufacturing going again.
I think the Philippines should also. I dread though what will happen to the
likes of Singapore and Hongkong/China whose economies are extremely
dependent on trade.

And, that's what PKT is all about, right? To save the world from itself.
Anyone here read "The March of Folly" by Tuchman?

Gary Santos



----- Original Message -----
From: "Mason Clark" <masonc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 5:50 AM
Subject: Re: More on Outsourcing and Offshoring


>  It effectively makes for a borderless labor market in a global experiment
> with the idea of "comparative advantage".

At what point will economists face up to "averaging down"?  And must
the Law of Comparative Advantage rule? -- that most sacrosanct of all
economics (I've been forcefully told by economists)

> Countries like the Philippines, India and China will be
> able to create jobs that otherwise would not be created.

Without the importation of jobs and export of goods -- isn't it just
possible
that developing countries could, should, and would create jobs producing for
their own consumption, including production goods?

Is it an accepted, irrefutable fact that development depends on
mercantilism, i.e. exporting to earn foreign money?

Admission of bias: I live in the former apricot center of the world and am
eating Turkish apricots. The nearby garlic center of the U.S. is beginning
to cease farming and instead import garlic from China.

           Mason C