Globalism is here to stay
President Trump’s missteps and policy blunders may ironically help inform the public about the benefits, necessity and irreversibility of globalism. Build a wall? Set off a trade war with Mexico, our third largest trading partner, and destabilize the Mexican economy — which will spur more immigrants to America. Try to lock out Muslims? Americans find out how many doctors, scientists and other valuable Muslim professionals choose to come to the United States. You see, when Trump’s policies get tested in the real world, they demonstrate their own undesirability.
No issue occupies Trump’s energy and time like immigration. Immigrants are killing our children! They are stealing our jobs! This bears no semblance to reality but it provides his low-information voters with a comforting fairy tale: Bar foreigners and their good-paying, low-skill jobs will come back! Actually, the reverse is true.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Officials from a second tier of smaller cities, from Columbus, Ohio, to Troy, Mich., to Garden City, Kan., are highlighting the economic importance of welcoming refugees and immigrants to bolster declining populations and add manpower, skills and entrepreneurial know-how.
“I understand that the president is trying to protect the U.S. However, there are many good people that have located here that are escaping wars and political actions, and they’re just looking for a chance to raise their families in a safe environment,” said Janet Doll, a Republican city commissioner in Garden City, Kan. “The immigrants we have here are productive members of society. They have nice jobs and want to contribute to the quality of life in our community.”
Oops. The Rust Belt, where Trump won the presidency, could benefit from pursuing policies 180 degrees from those he ran on. According to the Journal, “A study released last month by two left-leaning groups — the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress — found that of the estimated 90,000 Syrian immigrants in the U.S., 11 percent are business owners, compared with 3 percent of U.S.-born citizens. The study also found that the median annual wage for Syrian immigrants is $52,000, compared with $45,000 for U.S.-born workers.” The story continues:
A 2015 study commissioned by the city of Columbus found there were 873 refugee-owned businesses in the Columbus metro area that employed 3,960 workers, and that those businesses contributed $605.7 million a year to the local economy.
“The thing that has gotten lost in this discussion is the critical importance of immigrants and new Americans to the economic growth” of cities like Columbus, said Andrew Ginther, the city’s Democratic mayor. Columbus has the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years, Mr. Ginther said, and new Americans have had “a great role to play” in that.
Trump loves to talk about Detroit. But Detroit could use more immigrants. Due to a severe drop in population, Detroit is out searching for immigrants. (“The nonprofit Global Detroit runs a number of immigrant-directed programs, including job training and working to keep international students in Detroit after they finish their studies. ‘We’re not an immigrant-rights group, we’re a group that cares about the economy and wants to create more jobs and develop the region,’ said Steve Tobocman, the head of Global Detroit. ‘We came to the conclusion that more refugees and immigrants was frankly in our own economic self-interest. We still firmly believe that in current conditions today.'”) Too bad Trump cannot get out of the White House for fear of protests. He might go talk to such people.
Surely Trump and his advisers do or could understand that immigration promotes growth, innovation, homeownership and a host of benefits for Americans who already live here. It takes willful ignorance — and a political formula that depends on bigotry — to think limiting or eliminating immigrants will be a boon to the economy. Unfortunately, just such ignorance has afflicted not only Trump’s base but conservative pundits who spout all sorts of immigration hooey, largely fed by fringe anti-immigrant groups who shovel phony facts to eager right-wing outlets and politicians and political operatives such as Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Stephen Miller.
Every successful sector of the economy — including hotels, as Trump knows — relies to one extent or another on the talents and labor of noncitizens. For that reason — as well as the need to find and expand overseas markets — business leaders are up in arms over Trump’s immigration and protectionist initiatives. CNN reports:
The truce between Ford and President Donald Trump took a hit Monday, as the automaker criticized the president’s ban on U.S. travel from seven [Muslim] countries.
The travel ban “goes against our values as a company,” said a statement from Ford CEO Mark Fields and Executive Chairman Bill Ford, the great-grandson of the company’s founder. Specifically those values include “respect for all people” and “inclusion in the workplace.”
Ford’s headquarters is in Dearborn, Mich., where about 30 percent of the population is of Arab descent. That makes the area home to the nation’s highest concentration of Arab-Americans, according to the Census Bureau.
There’s Michigan again, telling Trump not to make good on the philosophy he ran on. Fortunately, Ford’s CEO says he will stay on a manufacturing committee that meets with and gives recommendations to Trump. (“Asked if he would tell Trump that the travel ban is a bad idea, Fields responded, ‘We will always be straight forward. We’ll do it with candor, but we’ll also do it with respect.'”) That would be beneficial given that Trump does not learn about such things from Fox News, his advisers or from reading (which he doesn’t do).
High-tech companies remain a powerful force for social tolerance, free markets and legal immigration, not because they are mushy-headed liberals but because they are hardheaded capitalists. Now, they see their economic fortunes threatened and do not intend to sit idly by while the president destroys global supply chains, creates trade wars and blocks their hiring of the best and the brightest around the world. The Wall Street Journal reports:
...more..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog.../trump-teaching-us-globalism-is-here-to-stay/
President Trump’s missteps and policy blunders may ironically help inform the public about the benefits, necessity and irreversibility of globalism. Build a wall? Set off a trade war with Mexico, our third largest trading partner, and destabilize the Mexican economy — which will spur more immigrants to America. Try to lock out Muslims? Americans find out how many doctors, scientists and other valuable Muslim professionals choose to come to the United States. You see, when Trump’s policies get tested in the real world, they demonstrate their own undesirability.
No issue occupies Trump’s energy and time like immigration. Immigrants are killing our children! They are stealing our jobs! This bears no semblance to reality but it provides his low-information voters with a comforting fairy tale: Bar foreigners and their good-paying, low-skill jobs will come back! Actually, the reverse is true.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Officials from a second tier of smaller cities, from Columbus, Ohio, to Troy, Mich., to Garden City, Kan., are highlighting the economic importance of welcoming refugees and immigrants to bolster declining populations and add manpower, skills and entrepreneurial know-how.
“I understand that the president is trying to protect the U.S. However, there are many good people that have located here that are escaping wars and political actions, and they’re just looking for a chance to raise their families in a safe environment,” said Janet Doll, a Republican city commissioner in Garden City, Kan. “The immigrants we have here are productive members of society. They have nice jobs and want to contribute to the quality of life in our community.”
Oops. The Rust Belt, where Trump won the presidency, could benefit from pursuing policies 180 degrees from those he ran on. According to the Journal, “A study released last month by two left-leaning groups — the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress — found that of the estimated 90,000 Syrian immigrants in the U.S., 11 percent are business owners, compared with 3 percent of U.S.-born citizens. The study also found that the median annual wage for Syrian immigrants is $52,000, compared with $45,000 for U.S.-born workers.” The story continues:
A 2015 study commissioned by the city of Columbus found there were 873 refugee-owned businesses in the Columbus metro area that employed 3,960 workers, and that those businesses contributed $605.7 million a year to the local economy.
“The thing that has gotten lost in this discussion is the critical importance of immigrants and new Americans to the economic growth” of cities like Columbus, said Andrew Ginther, the city’s Democratic mayor. Columbus has the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years, Mr. Ginther said, and new Americans have had “a great role to play” in that.
Trump loves to talk about Detroit. But Detroit could use more immigrants. Due to a severe drop in population, Detroit is out searching for immigrants. (“The nonprofit Global Detroit runs a number of immigrant-directed programs, including job training and working to keep international students in Detroit after they finish their studies. ‘We’re not an immigrant-rights group, we’re a group that cares about the economy and wants to create more jobs and develop the region,’ said Steve Tobocman, the head of Global Detroit. ‘We came to the conclusion that more refugees and immigrants was frankly in our own economic self-interest. We still firmly believe that in current conditions today.'”) Too bad Trump cannot get out of the White House for fear of protests. He might go talk to such people.
Surely Trump and his advisers do or could understand that immigration promotes growth, innovation, homeownership and a host of benefits for Americans who already live here. It takes willful ignorance — and a political formula that depends on bigotry — to think limiting or eliminating immigrants will be a boon to the economy. Unfortunately, just such ignorance has afflicted not only Trump’s base but conservative pundits who spout all sorts of immigration hooey, largely fed by fringe anti-immigrant groups who shovel phony facts to eager right-wing outlets and politicians and political operatives such as Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Stephen Miller.
Every successful sector of the economy — including hotels, as Trump knows — relies to one extent or another on the talents and labor of noncitizens. For that reason — as well as the need to find and expand overseas markets — business leaders are up in arms over Trump’s immigration and protectionist initiatives. CNN reports:
The truce between Ford and President Donald Trump took a hit Monday, as the automaker criticized the president’s ban on U.S. travel from seven [Muslim] countries.
The travel ban “goes against our values as a company,” said a statement from Ford CEO Mark Fields and Executive Chairman Bill Ford, the great-grandson of the company’s founder. Specifically those values include “respect for all people” and “inclusion in the workplace.”
Ford’s headquarters is in Dearborn, Mich., where about 30 percent of the population is of Arab descent. That makes the area home to the nation’s highest concentration of Arab-Americans, according to the Census Bureau.
There’s Michigan again, telling Trump not to make good on the philosophy he ran on. Fortunately, Ford’s CEO says he will stay on a manufacturing committee that meets with and gives recommendations to Trump. (“Asked if he would tell Trump that the travel ban is a bad idea, Fields responded, ‘We will always be straight forward. We’ll do it with candor, but we’ll also do it with respect.'”) That would be beneficial given that Trump does not learn about such things from Fox News, his advisers or from reading (which he doesn’t do).
High-tech companies remain a powerful force for social tolerance, free markets and legal immigration, not because they are mushy-headed liberals but because they are hardheaded capitalists. Now, they see their economic fortunes threatened and do not intend to sit idly by while the president destroys global supply chains, creates trade wars and blocks their hiring of the best and the brightest around the world. The Wall Street Journal reports:
...more..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog.../trump-teaching-us-globalism-is-here-to-stay/
