It's a Good Wind That Blows No Ill: The "Made in America" Campaign

Again I refer to the US television network called ABC and their "ABC World News" evening news program.

They have been carrying on a campaign that urges Americans to buy more American-made items as part of their Christmas gift shopping. The slogan is "Made in America." They have shown video clips of factories that have added workers because of increased sales of their manufactures--in turn, presumably, because of the demand for those products that has been stimulated by ABC.

The numbers of additional workers hired seem to be generally small: 3 here, maybe 10 or so there. I'd be curious to know what the total increased employment is, but that is not given and probably is not even known; but I don't think the impact is a really large one.

Still, I think this is a good thing. I am happy to see American workers rehired or new jobs being created. It's hard to argue with that, since it's good for all of America. Unemployment causes anxiety and suffering, even hunger--which no one in a prosperous land like the US should suffer.

And not only are there restored or newly created American jobs, but this has to be good for the economic statistic called balance of payments: When a country imports more than it exports, that is called a trade deficit and is supposed to be a bad thing--although the great amount of oil that the US imports, to fuel its enormous SUVs, is a big contributor to the US trade deficit.

Now, this is what is called a zero-sum game, meaning that if someone gains, someone else loses. If less imported merchandise is being bought, someone suffers. And it's easy to guess that the main loser in all this would be China.

I don't feel sorry for China if its factories are making fewer goods to be sent to America. In fact, it's not even totally a bad thing for China. Chinese peasants in very large numbers have been leaving the farm to move to the cities and work in factories. This causes at least some social disruption. It can't be totally a bad thing if more peasants remain in the rural areas and grow food.

On the other hand, the "Made in America" trend is not quite totally a good thing for America. If you pay attention to the transportation industry in America, you can't help but be aware that there is a very, very large amount of activity involving goods that come from China: shipping containers, very many of them carrying goods from China, are being moved by American trains and trucks. So that business might be hurt. Still, domestically-made goods have to be transported, too. Maybe some fuel with be saved by manufactures being moved shorter distances.

Copyright (c) 2011 by Richard Stein