Cold Hearted Economists
By Bob
Dave over at Always Low Prices points out that the jobs being lost to outsourcing and overseas manufacturers are going people in dirt poor nations. This fact is always over looked by politicians and "journalists" who take an anecdote to make these loses into a national tragedy. Most of the world is dirt poor in comparision to Americans, but politicians seemingly want to put up trade barriers and at the same time tax citizens for foriegn aid.
There is a reason the Delong's and Krugman's have been accused of being right-wingers and there seems to be many economists who actually fit that description. Economics today is what many left-wingers decry as liberal economics or, if your Australian, rational economics( does that make the opponents irrational?). This is why Delong and Krugman both support free trade while, I know from reading Brad's site, advocating some sort of state support for those negatively affected by globalization. They recognize that markets are the best choice for the allocation of resources, but seek a safety net so that the losers aren't affected too badly.
What about those economists, like myself, who aren't American liberals, surely I don't give a damn about other people? Let me ask a question, what other profession devotes as much time and resources to researching how man can better themselves? The fact that so many economists sound like right-wingers is the result of research which points them in that direction, but believe it or not, a lot them have a heart too. I sometimes joke with my friends that I'm a socialist. This doesn't have to do with actual beliefs but the simple facts that it's much easier to get laid in a country with a socialist government as an American.
There is nothing that makes me happier than when I see solid economic growth coming out places like India and China. Every person who led a miserable life and then entered the middle class makes me richer in ways beyond just short-term job growth. That's the way we should should look at the situation and not through the lense of spoiled kids on the streets of Seattle. Economists study how man betters himself even if its not the technical definition of what we do.
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