USA, New York Times: Teoria e realtà

La globalizzazione ed i lavoratori americani.


Lo status del lavoratore americano qualificato, ben pagato, protetto dal sistema sanitario e pensionistico ha subito in questi anni colpi durissimi. La ragione, secondo il columnist del New York Times, sta nell'economia globalizzata. La realtà, afferma Bob Herbert, sta sconfessando quanti affermavano che la globalizzazione avrebbe trasformato il mercato del lavoro negli Stati Uniti moltiplicando i lavori migliori e meglio pagati.


fonte:http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it


Theory vs. Reality
By BOB HERBERT

Welcome to the 21st century. The landscape has changed. We're in a new hypercompetitive worldwide economy, driven by breathtaking advances in technology. Men and women are being added to the global work force by the hundreds of millions.

In this dynamic, potentially very treacherous labor market, few people are looking out for the interests of the American worker. The very concept of the traditional high-paid American job, with its generous health and pension benefits and paid vacations, is at risk.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York sees the economic changes as a paradigm shift. In an era of high-bandwith communications and the free flow of capital, most goods and services can be produced or performed anywhere in the world. And with highly educated workers in countries like China and India ready and able to perform sophisticated tasks at a fraction of the pay earned by Americans, there are fewer and fewer reasons for those American jobs not to take flight.

In light of these changes, said Senator Schumer, we should at least be asking some tough questions about the real-world effects of free trade as we've known it.

Referring to David Ricardo, the 19th-century British economist whose theory of comparative advantage became the basis of free trade, Mr. Schumer said: "Ricardo set up a model that served very, very well for a very long time. But now there are new facts on the ground."

The biggest and most ominous new fact for American workers is the dreadful employment environment of the current economic expansion. In terms of job creation, it's the worst expansion on record. The job growth since the recession officially ended in November 2001 has been primarily in low-paying sectors. These are not the upwardly mobile jobs long associated with entry into the American middle class.

And they are not the kinds of jobs that free-trade advocates were promising in the 1990's, when they were hustling American factory workers, assuring them that the transfer of their jobs to low-wage countries overseas was a good thing. Globalization will be wonderful, the advocates said. There will be more jobs. Better jobs. Higher-paying jobs.

The multinational corporations, which have had by far the biggest say in the development of America's trade policies, are thriving in the new environment. Workers are the big losers, and the losses are only beginning. We now know that offshoring or outsourcing — whatever the term of the moment is for dumping American workers in favor of cheaper workers elsewhere — was never going to be limited to factory jobs.

Outsourcing is not the only reason for the employment squeeze in the U.S. But it's a significant reason. And while it's getting a lot of attention lately, it's not getting the kind of close scrutiny such a powerful economic force deserves.

One of the great achievements of the United States has been the high standard of living of the average American worker. This was the result of many long years of struggle to obtain higher wages, shorter work weeks, health and pension benefits, paid vacations, safe working conditions, a measure of job security and so on.

It is not an advance to move to a situation in which all of that can vanish with the flick of a computerized switch. High-quality employment is the cornerstone of the economic well-being of America's vast middle class.

Among the questions we should be asking about the real-world effects of unrestrained trade is what happens to the U.S. economy after we've shipped so many jobs from so many sectors overseas that American families no longer have the disposable income to buy all the products and services they need to buy to keep the consumer economy going.

That's not supposed to happen. In theory. But American workers are filled with anxiety because they understand that disaster can result when theory comes face to face with reality. One of the things that sank with the Titanic was the theory that it was unsinkable.

In a recent column I wrote incorrectly that Bechtel had received no-bid contracts for work in Iraq. The company is operating under contracts won after limited bidding.


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