Suggested Solutions to America's Economic Problems

from Economy In Crisis

The following suggestions should be considered as part of a new plan to recover American industry and economic health:

• Appoint an economic minister, a major cabinet post, to develop an industrial policy that would:
1. Create conditions to make manufacturing competitive and profitable through tax changes and subsidies where needed

2. Protect our economy from foreign predatory practices

3. Create an industrial research and development division similar to government sponsored National Institute of Health (NIH) in medicine or the Apollo project.

Or, copy Japan's very successful system conducted by their Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) that focuses on needs and development procedures for their new and existing industries.

• Change the tax structure for select industries that are vital to strategic American interests - steel, transportation, cement and others.

• Amend or get out of our agreement with the WTO. It places our domestic trade laws in the hands of an undemocratic organization whose decisions have been consistently and unfairly adjudicated.

• Eliminate the out dated Value Added Tax (VAT) agreement. It unjustifiably subsidizes foreign exports to us, while simultaneously penalizing our exports to them.

• Amend or get out of NAFTA. It incentivizes our companies to move productive facilities out of our country.

• We must analyze every international trade deal by considering if it benefits America; currently most deals do not.

• Use tariffs selectively to prevent the loss of strategic and endangered industries.

• Curtail subsidies foreign owned companies receive from state governments and discourage technology transfer and outsourcing manufacturing that results in the loss of industries.

• Prevent the sale of strategic companies or institutions to foreign ownership.

• Faster depreciation on capital equipment investment - it will lessen the need to outsource manufacturing.

• Control the balance of trade deficit. This is the means through which foreign companies are able to accumulate funds to purchase our best companies.

Free trade has been a disaster. It must be replaced with intelligent trade that prevents foreign predatory practices and better serves U.S. interests.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS AND THINGS TO CONSIDER:

• We must strive to become competitive; otherwise America must exist on imports with more debt,

• American owned companies have lost their edge and, on balance, are not as productive or as protective as many other foreign companies. This must be corrected.

• It must be profitable to manufacture in America otherwise domestic companies will outsource their manufacturing.

• America is losing a major economics war by relinquishing management and control of the economy through effects of our balance of trade deficit, outsourcing, subsidized insourcing and foreign tax benefits.

• Consider the consequences of losing whole industries such as publishing, autos, movies, steel, electronics, clothing and how it impacts national security and living standards.

• We need to analyze and correct:
1. Negative effects of WTO rules and decisions regarding their impact on our economy.

2. Violations of WTO rules practiced by other countries to our detriment

3. Restrictions imposed by foreign governments on American exporting companies.