More Crass Economic Nationalism From Obama

Here's a new Obama ad that attacks American companies for opening factories in China:


(http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1844697317)

Obama's demagoguery on globalization is the part of his candidacy that irritates me the most. Though some Americans may lose their jobs when multinational corporations take advantage of cheaper labor in China, all American benefit from low-cost Chinese products. If China weren't the world's factory, most people wouldn't be able to afford nearly as many consumer goods as they now can.

And economics isn't a zero sum game. As history has proven, everyone can get richer together. This notion that China's gain is necessarily America's loss is pathetically pedantic. So much so that Obama obviously knows damn well it's not true. But he's still willing to say it because it will likely win him votes amongst angry blue collar workers in key states like Ohio.

It's highly unfortunate that the American public's scandalous lack of understanding in the field of economics makes arguing for freer trade an unpopular position. This is one of the few areas where I view McCain's position as significantly superior to Obama's. I wish Obama's multilateralist foreign policy in the political and military spheres and McCain's embrace of economic globalization were present in the same candidate.