Making America Great Again: The Social Injustice of Outsourcing

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Nehemiah 5:9

Then I said, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God and not invite the reproach of our foreign enemies?

(CSB)

While the wall building project progressed despite the opposition, all was not well within the land of Israel during the time of Nehemiah.  Jewish law forbids the charging of interest to fellow Jews (Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:35-38).  Those who were unable to pay back their debt became slaves.  While one becoming a servant to a fellow Jew was permissible under Jewish law, they were to be set free at the year of jubilee and not subjected to eternal slavery (Leviticus 25:39-42). 

Upon hearing of this situation, Nehemiah became angry and not sorrowful as he did upon hearing of the state of the wall in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:4).  His anger and not sorrow was due to willful disobedience of God’s law.  However, instead of shouting at the wrongdoers himself, Nehemiah assembles a large group of those victimized by this illegal interest and slavery and with their loud voice, they effected a change. 

The history of outsourcing American jobs has caused many American jobs to move to other countries providing either cheaper labor or a more advantageous tax structure.  (1) (2)  The social injustice of outsourcing makes American workers either settle for lower wages to compete on the global market or depend on some governmental subsistence to survive.  After many years of enduring this social injustice, in 2016 a majority of American voters, many in industrial states like Pennsylvania and Michigan greatly affected by outsourcing reacted by giving an electoral college victory to Donald Trump who promised to return jobs to Americans affected by outsourcing.  (3) (4)

Like Nehemiah, Donald Trump, a man already massively successful, became angered and entered the toxic political fray.  While Donald Trump could have stayed in New York in his penthouse living a comfortable life, out of love for country and those struggling to survive despite the ravages of outsourcing he chose to run for President.  After this announcement, Donald Trump hit the road with his message, a message resonating with millions who carried him to victory and election as President in the 2016 U.S. election. 

Through a reduction of burdensome regulations and a reduction in corporate income taxes, Trump’s promise of bring jobs to Americans is happening.  (5)  President Trump is making progress combating the social injustice of outsourcing and economic stagnation affecting Americans for many years.  However, a looming threat to the economic growth the nation is experiencing is on the horizon.

A tariff is a tax and like any tax levied on a company, adds to the cost of goods and services, increasing prices to the end user consumer.  Historically tariffs like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, passed in an effort to ease the pain of the Great Depression on American industry and agriculture prolong economic downturns instead of helping.  (6)  Another consideration when contemplating tariffs is the reprisals by other countries and a trade war possibly leading to a global depression like the 1930’s.  (7)

If we have learned anything from the economic growth of the first year of the trump administration, it is that economic growth and job creation are possible through a combination of tax cuts and regulatory reductions.  Tariffs like any other form of taxation do nothing to create jobs other than some government jobs administering the new taxes.  While it is in the best interest of the U.S. economy to end the social injustice of outsourcing, I believe the best strategy for doing this is continuing with the current strategy of removing burdensome regulations and taxes and not starting a dangerous trade war. 

1. Stefano, Theodore F. di. Why Money Chases Cheap Labor - The Outsourcing Phenomenon. www.ecommercetimes.com. [Online] Ecommerce Times, February 3, 2006. [Cited: March 4, 2018.] https://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/48622.html.

2. Sabga, Patricia. Corporations go overseas to avoid U.S. taxes. www.pbs.org. [Online] PBS, April 29, 2017. [Cited: March 4, 2018.] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/corporations-go-overseas-avoid-u-s-taxes.

3. Schleifer, Theodore. Trump stomps all over the Democrats' Blue Wall. www.cnn.com. [Online] CNN Politics, November 9, 2016. [Cited: March 4, 2018.] https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-blue-wall/index.html.

4. Reuters. Trump's Victory Is Scaring Global Firms That Rely on Free Trade. fortune.com. [Online] Fortune, November 9, 2016. [Cited: March 4, 2018.] http://fortune.com/2016/11/09/trump-victory-global-firms-free-trade/.

5. Schwartz, Nelson D. Jobs, Factories and Stocks Provide Economic Lift for Trump. www.nytimes.com. [Online] The New York Times, August 4, 2017. [Cited: March 4, 2018.] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/business/economy/jobs-report-unemployment.html.

6. Hankla, Charles. Economic history shows why Trump's 'America First' tariff policy is so dangerous. www.chicagotribune.com. [Online] Chicago Tribune, March 1, 2018. [Cited: March 9, 2018.] http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-economic-history-shows-why-trumps-america-first-tariff-policy-is-so-dangerous-92715-20180301-story.html.

7. Sancya, Paul. Nobody Wins a Trade War. www.usnews.com. [Online] U.S. News and World Report, March 14, 2016. [Cited: March 9, 2018.] https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/articles/2016-03-14/the-economic-danger-of-trumps-and-sanders-trade-proctectionism.