Carol Gazzam – 6/10/05

This page was last updated on June 11, 2005.

Support USA, not China; Carol Gazzam; Beaver County Times; June 10, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Here’s a thought. Instead of teaching our children the Chinese language, how about we stop purchasing everything under the sun that is made in China? When is this country going to wake up and start supporting our own people and our own businesses by buying American?”

[RWC] Whose kids are learning Chinese?

“I am so sick and tired of hearing that China is the next superpower and we are an inferior country in comparison. Guess what, people, we made China what it is. We made Japan what it is. When are we going to learn from our mistakes?

[RWC] Who is claiming the U.S. is “an inferior country in comparison” to Red China?

“Our taxes are sky high, our children are educationally deprived; every day there are more layoffs, more plant closings, more job concessions.”

[RWC] It’s true our taxes are too high and our children could receive better education. The education situation, however, has nothing to do with money. We spend far more per student on public education than ever. The problem with public education is a lack of competition for government-run schools.

Regarding “every day there are more layoffs, more plant closings, more job concessions,” does Ms. Gazzam ignore the news? The unemployment rate for May 2005 was a low 5.1%. It was only 5.6% in May 2004. A recent forecast projects the U.S. economy will add 2.1 million jobs this year.

Regarding job concessions, so what? If the marketplace determines you are overcompensated, you can agree to increase your productivity, cut your compensation, or lose your job. That’s the way economics works. Ms. Gazzam ignores that some workers are able to demand greater compensation.

“Twenty-some years ago, the steel industry began its steady decline, and no one seemed to care. Locally, we have the problems of US Airways, school district cutbacks, government worker cutbacks, government program cutbacks, yet we are paying higher and higher taxes. Guess what, people: No one makes anything in this country anymore.”

[RWC] This paragraph is a real mess.

Regarding the steel industry, I wonder where Ms. Gazzam learned her history. The U.S. steel industry began its decline in the mid-1950s, long before the mid-1980s as Ms. Gazzam claims. Here are some points to illustrate this fact.

· Everyone knew the high steel demand/low supply bubble after World War II would be temporary. After all, pent-up consumer demand from the Depression and the war and the need to rebuild caused the bubble.

· European and Japanese steel mills destroyed during the war were rebuilt using the latest technology, providing cost and quality advantages compared to U.S. mills.

· Steel demand dropped in 1958, a clear sign the high demand bubble ended.

· Steel imports from Europe and Japan began in earnest during the four-month 1959 steel industry strike, a clear sign the supply shortage ended.

· Imports continued to rise even after the strike ended because consumers liked the quality and price.

· Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and southeastern Ohio steel producers were at a transportation cost disadvantage relative to producers on the Great Lakes.

· Courting both consumers and unions, lawmakers bullied companies to increase wages and benefits without increasing steel prices, squeezing mediocre profits and delaying long overdue modernization.

What does US Airways’ problems have to do with Red China?

What “school district cutbacks, government worker cutbacks, government program cutbacks” of any significance?

“No one makes anything in this country anymore?” What an exaggeration. Even ignoring domestic producers, Ms. Gazzam ignores the fact that many foreign companies have moved production facilities to the U.S. Just a few examples are BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Michelin, Sony, Toyota, et cetera.

“We need to make an effort to support our own country and take back what was ours in the beginning. In this country, people seem to have the attitude that we are making something out of nothing and ‘Oh, that isn’t really happening.’ Wake up or we will be speaking Chinese!”

[RWC] I agree we need to support our country, but Ms. Gazzam provides no suggestions. All she does is rant.