China and Walmart

The simplest way to increase our job deficit is to increase our manufacturing base. The simplest way to do that is to impose tariffs on China's imports. Since China holds a third of our debt they hold a big stick over us with the threat of calling our loans if we threaten tariffs.
Mr. Krugman's lack of concern over our debt problem worries me. If I can see this simple solution, why can't our Progressive Economist see this conundrum and talk about it realistically?
Selling Asia's washing machines, cell phones, TVs, computers and automobiles isn't the same as American companies making those products. Many of us buy a washing machine and finance it for two or three years now. The financial industry makes out like the bandits they are, but what is to become of their predatory actions when we can't even afford to buy that imported washing machine?
Erecting windmills and solar panels made overseas is similar to the lineman of yesteryear, except we made those electrical lines here in the United States.
We've become a society of consumers and sales people. We have service jobs, jobs that don't require higher education to perform. Which works out well for the corporations whose only concern is their bottom line -- it's their job, isn't it. It's our job to force change for our economy.
Every Christmas season of the past decade produces articles and opinion pieces of how low our expectations for the busiest sales time of the year will be. How long will it take for that number to be zero?
Developing nations with their workers living far below what we consider a poverty level, and countries that provide health care via taxation for their citizens both have a huge advantage over our system.
Why must our companies shoulder the cost of health care? We don't make them support our educational system. They don't pay for our fire departments or police protection.
If the concern is the "global economy" then the first thing we should do is join those other developed countries and take that health care cost off the price of our goods.
One day soon we consumers will no longer be able to afford the products made by slave labor in Asia. What happens then? Will the CEOs of our country realize that their over-valued bottom line has become secondary to staying in business?
It's so simple! If we can't earn enough money to buy products produced by slave labor because we are a "service" economy and can't export actual products with competitive pricing to the rest of the world we will become a third world country ourselves.
How do we convince our wimpy government to take the steps necessary to bring our manufacturing base back home?

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future