Treasury chief calls outsourcing a plus for US (3/30 Cincinnati Enquirer) [View All]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/31/treasury_chief_calls_outsourcing_a_plus_for_us/

Treasury chief calls outsourcing a plus for US
By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff, 3/31/2004

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, in the latest sign that the Bush administration intends to directly defend free trade despite the loss of American jobs overseas, argued in an interview published yesterday that outsourcing ultimately helps the US economy.

Snow told The Cincinnati Enquirer that outsourcing "is a part of trade . . . and there can't be any doubt about the fact that trade makes the economy stronger." The comment echoed those made recently by two of President Bush's top economic advisers, N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Stephen Friedman, director of the National Economic Council, who also suggested that shifting some jobs overseas would benefit the United States.

Political analysts said yesterday that the administration has apparently decided to address the issue of outsourcing head-on by arguing that free trade in the long run means greater choice for consumers, lower prices, and greater prosperity. Many economists, including the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, say the competition leads to the type of innovations that drive the US economy forward and ultimately create far more jobs than are lost.<snip>