Davidson and HudsonL How to reclaim lost US industrial might?

["John Gelles" <indexed-savings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Hudson is author of Trade, Development and Foreign Debt, an area of economic discipline that looms large this election year.

 

America is either building, defending or destroying its economic power in the world by transferring manufacturing abroad in its embrace of the English free trade tradition. It is enriching the few as it impoverishes the many and transfers its real economic power to rival nations. But it does this for only so long. Then it comes to its senses.

 

Paul Davidson has his oar in these troubled waters, as well. He would limit the power of currency traders to further confound the confused situation.

 

Michael and Paul talk of teaching not trade. But the real issue is manufacturing power in coming decades. Either America will reverse course and reclaim its lost industrial might or it will lose out to rivals not so stupid as to believe you can be politically free and industrially weak at the same time.

 

Of the present crop of candidates for leadership of the free world, John Kerry seems to grasp some of the problem. Unfortunately the relation between production and money is for the moment beyond his ken,

 

It seems certain, however, that soon the American people will re-embrace manufacturing and reform of money at home to monetize debt as necessary -- and clean up the corruption in congressional elections if it wants to last as a major power.

 

Although there has been a monumental failure of intellect in banking, law, economics and information technology to merge the best of competitive enterprise tactics with the best of intelligence strategies to anticipate a national need for money to protect both manufacturing and the workers and firms who do it, that failure is being met as we speak by America's traditional freedom to invent what we need in pinch. 

 

What evidence is there for this happening? Take any Kerry speech and add to it  World War II technique to mobilize money for victory and you have the answer.

 

Will we do this in time and in tune with grand alliances? There is no doubt that we will. These will include Europe, Russia, Japan and China.

 

The war between academics over who teaches what for a reason will be resolved in favor of the mental not the money power. And the mental power is biased in favor of technologies that eventually work.

 

John Gelles