Radio Free Market Economy

This has been muddying my thoughts recently so I thought I'd write about in the hope that it would find its way out of my brain: I have more important things to do, after all. heh heh heh

A lot of talk has been thrown around lately about how awful the u.s. economy is, how awful it is that gas prices are rising, how awful it is that the dollar is tanking, etc. etc. etc. Awful, awful, awful. Woe woe woe is me. There, there: shut up, little girl! What's happening seems (to me at least) very simple--the world economies are equalizing. As free trade increases, the market naturally migrates (in certain industries anyway) to cheaper environments, boosting the economy and quality of life in those areas and reducing it in others. Naturally, there is a (fluctuating) finite amount of wealth in the world (finite in that wealth can be defined by how much everybody thinks everything in the world is worth at that one particular moment), and as industries and markets move around, they will shift that wealth accordingly. It shouldn't come as any great surprise that the U.S. economy, which was until recently artificially protected on the world stage by trade barriers, is finding itself falling a bit--especially industries such as manufacturing. Molecules in areas of high pressure will gravitate toward areas of low pressure.

The world market is changing things, to be sure--wealth is spreading. The average american joe who had a skilled labor position and enjoyed a ridiculously high salary (when compared to like employees in a global context) is going the way of the dodo. In his stead there will be more jobs in other industries, such as software engineering, healthcare, communications, etc.; positions that take advantage of the (still) relatively high level of education and entrepreneurial spirit in this country...and the sooner people figure out that this isn't a bad thing, the better it will be for everyone. There seems to be a certain pervasive attitude in certain parts of our society that fears this change greatly and will fight, tooth and nail, to preserve the "old ways." The old ways aren't slowly dying away: they're dead already. People in this country will have to figure out a way (find a way!) to excel in the new world economy or they'll be pushed aside. Obviously many companies are already doing this, notably U.S. based companies that are heavily invested in foreign markets.

I'm not judging this situation in a context of right or wrong--I'm just pointing out that it is true. Right or wrong, good or bad, people need to embrace reality, or risk being pushed aside as irrelevant.

Oh, and if you think that most people do understand this and are ready to move on? You're wrong--I can't tell you how often I overhear some ECMC employee talking in the hall about how awful it is that "we have to give up retiree healthcare!" or "we have to give up summer-hours!" (that one always gets me...summer hours are a relic of the days when county buildings had no air conditioning, and in the summer employees were allowed to go home 1/2 hour early because of the heat.) Since ECMC has to stay open 24 hours a day, this means that its employees of course must continue to work a full day...but the hospital has to either a.) pay them more, or b.) give them extra days off at other times--all because they are working through their precious summer hours...At this point I have to point out that, even though my position is non-union, and I don't get the more ridiculous benefits like summer hours and silly holidays like election day, I still have very good benefits and in no way feel cheated, slighted, or otherwise wronged by my woeful situation.

I guess my point is that in order to adapt in the new free market economy, all people in this country, not just the few multinational corporations, have to adapt. This means you, mr. union laborer. These people aren't losing anything aside from over-inflated salaries and benefits propped up by years of artificial protection and misguided union muscle.

Now, anyone who is an economist (out of my way, I'm an economist!), or is in any way qualified to talk about the stuff that I just bandied about as if I knew what the hell I was talking about, can feel free to tell me how crazy I am.

Ah yes, regarding high gas prices. Supply and demand, my friend, supply and demand. Don't like high gas prices? Move closer to your job, get a bike, or ride public transportation. I have a feeling that we are going to move into a period in our culture where privately owned automobiles will become (slowly, perhaps very slowly) less prevalent as petroleum prices continue to rise--or at least we'll end up using the automobiles that we currently own less.(note that I'm only talking about the U.S. here. I'm well aware that automobile sales are increasing like crazy in China, which only serves to bolster my point about quality of life equalizing on a world scale.) When an alternative fuel infrastructure based on an abundant fuel source (like hydrogen, for example) is created, things will swing the other way again, but not until then. Rising gas prices, more than any other single factor, are going to affect both the impetus to create an alternative fuel infrastructure as well as the need to reduce CO2 emissions. With that in mind, are higher gas prices really a bad thing? Seriously: move into the city.