“Buy American” Sounds Good but Doesn’t Work

It sounds great… the U.S. government is going to try and keep the money in this country by inserting language into the massive spending bill that’s coming by saying “Buy American” must come first… but what will our trading partners think of this?  Exports are one of the few bright spots in the economy right now… exports that keep Americans employed and shareholders happy.  But if the government is forced to only buy from American companies when possible then not only will inefficient businesses stay that way but foreign companies that currently sell their products and services here will go to their governments and ask that similar provisions be written for them… the result being protectionism, further slowing of global trade and, eventually, job losses here in the U.S. because companies can’t sell themselves overseas.

A lot of this “Buy American” talk comes from a familiar source – Unions.  Here’s what Investor’s Business Daily has to say:

According to the Heritage Foundation,including Davis-Bacon provisions will drive up construction costs on the $188 billion worth of construction projects in H.R. 1 by some $17 billion.

These provisions will make the U.S. less competitive, fail to stimulate the economy and likely trigger a trade war. If this recession is prolonged and deepens into something worse, be sure to look for the union label.

Bye, Bye, American

EU issues warning over Buy America plan

If there’s one thing we should know but don’t ever seem to remember it’s that we pay attention to what we see but nobody seems to notice what we don’t see… that is a loss of jobs later.

Related posts:

Bye, Bye American Pie
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Cap and Trade, Obama, and More Hot Air = Trade War?
Good Enough for Government Work