Economists In Denial

“Economists in Denial- Blind to the Consequences of Offshoring” written by Paul Craig Roberts main purpose was to debate Harvard University Professor Michael Porter’s claims that globalism was bringing benefits to Americans.

According to the article, M. Porter suggested that the United States leads all major economies in GDP per capita and that household wealth grew strongly due to gains in stocks and investment income. Furthermore, M. Porter claimed that poverty rates have declined over the last 20 years. The author states that these conditions were happening prior to the convergence of a global economy in recent years. In fact, the author suggests that the continued growth of these conditions has been stunted to a certain extent due to globalism. The author goes on to comment on the fact that over the last 10 years or so job creation in the United States has grown at a slower rate then historical trends have provided for and that Americans are incurring more debt as compared to earlier generations. Furthermore, poverty rates have increased in recent years and that this situation may be correlated to the continued impact of globalism on today’s United States economy.

The article goes on to illustrate that foreign direct investment in the United States “consist almost entirely of foreign acquisitions of existing U.S. assets.” This has caused foreign investors to earn income as they utilize the assets that they have purchased. This has the effect of worsening the U.S. account deficit.

In my opinion, short term and long term, the impact of globalism will continue to effect the world economy on a positive scale. However, the U. S. economy will suffer as more nations continue to develop and as their economies continue to build upon and develop their niche in the global marketplace. Traditionally, labor has been the U.S. economies greatest