Regina Beverlin – 2/27/09

This page was last updated on February 27, 2009.

Our problems are of our own making; Regina Beverlin; Beaver County Times; February 27, 2009.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I was always a believer in fair trade, but of late I’ve been thinking at what cost.”

[RWC] I don’t know about Ms. Beverlin, but “fair trade” usually means including protectionist policies in trade agreements.

“The country we have become is worrisome. The challenges we are experiencing are our own fault.”

[RWC] This is a pretty generic statement. What are the challenges?

“How many times do you get a phone call about a product you’ve purchased and can’t even understand the person on the other end?

“Outsourcing is the business of the day. Hershey moved to Mexico, and Nova Chemical was just bought by Abu Dhabi.”

[RWC] I believe Ms. Beverlin means offshoring, not outsourcing.

Hershey didn’t move to Mexico, but plans to (or already has by now) open a plant there. According to USA Today, about 80% of Hershey’s products would continue to be made in the U.S. and Canada.

In the case of Nova Chemicals, does Ms. Beverlin believe the jobs will move to Abu Dhabi?

“The problem is we are not taking responsibility for the crisis we have caused. We are not a nation of stupid people, so why are we acting like it? We have no one to blame but ourselves.”

[RWC] About what crisis is Ms. Beverlin writing? The only thing Ms. Beverlin mentioned above was offshoring, but our current economic mess wasn’t caused by offshoring. It was caused by government policies that encouraged borrowers to get mortgages they couldn’t pay back and encouraged lenders to make those loans.