Thread: Greenspan's Inequality Fix: free trade for Dr's & lawyer

Greenspan's Inequality Fix: Free Trade for Lawyers and Doctors

Tell you one thing, Alan Greenspan is way more fun now that he's no longer helming the Federal Reserve. One day he's telling rapt audiences that a recession is possible–helping roil global financial markets in the process–the next day he's actually giving odds. (About 33 percent, if you're keeping track.)

Then there are these comments on solving perceived income inequality offered up by The Maestro at the Treasury Department's competitiveness conference earlier this week. Greenspan's solution to America's wage disparity is thus: "Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world. If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."
Now this may seem like a wacky solution, but if you are a free trader, it makes sense. After all, less-skilled and less-educated workers, primarily in the manufacturing industry, have been subjected to direct competition with lower-paid workers overseas. In return, the United States has received less-expensive goods at big box stores like Wal-Mart and Costco. (Eventually, of course, displaced workers should be retrained for higher-value-added work.)
Likewise, liberalizing trade for professional services–such as medicine and law–might not only suppress the dramatic income increases in those professions, as Greenspan suggests, but also make them more affordable. As economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, writes in The Conservative Nanny State:

"Trade pacts have done little or nothing to remove the extensive licensing and professional barriers that prevent foreign doctors, lawyers, economists, and journalists from competing on an equal footing with their counterparts in the United States ... If U.S. trade negotiators approached the highly paid professions in the same way they approached the auto industry ... they would also be asking the trade negotiators from Mexico, India, or China what obstacles prevent them from sending hundreds of thousands of highly skilled professionals to the United States ...

In fact, the exact opposite happens. In 1997, Congress tightened the licensing rules for foreign doctors entering the country because of concerns by the American Medical Association and other doctors' organizations that the inflow of foreign doctors was driving down their salaries. As a result, the number of foreign medical residents allowed to enter the country each year was cut in half.
... If free trade in physicians brought doctors' salaries down to European levels, the savings would be close to $100,000 per doctor, approximately $80 billion a year. This is 10 times as large as standard estimates of the gains from NAFTA."

And just think of the productivity benefits to the American economy if all those generations of future lawyers instead became engineers or industrial designers or some such. Of course, not everyone is thrilled with this possible solution. Here is what Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies had to say about Greenspan's solution in The Corner, National Review magazine's group blog today:


"So, what's [Greenspan's] solution? Flood the skilled labor market with immigrants! You see, since immigration lowers wages, massive importation of skilled workers would drive down their wages and, presto, no more income gap! In his words ... Anyone want to run for office on that platform? Anyone? Anyone? Instead, how about reducing inequality by cutting immigration overall, so we stop flooding the low-skilled labor market, and let blue-collar wages increase? Think that would be a better way to shore up political support for capitalism among the poor?" Posted at 05:14 PM by James Pethokoukis
http://www.americaneconomicalert.com/ne ... ID=2536391


See...it's all about lowering American's wages...I believe this is their end game!

There are professions in which the Mexican practitioners have as high incomes as they do here. The professions are filled by members of the Mexican elite, The barriers to entry by foreign potential practitioners is very high. Again the Mexicans preach opening our markets to them by means of unilateral action. The situation is matched by that in many oter Third World countries.

In fact, the exact opposite happens. In 1997, Congress tightened the licensing rules for foreign doctors entering the country because of concerns by the American Medical Association and other doctors' organizations that the inflow of foreign doctors was driving down their salaries. As a result, the number of foreign medical residents allowed to enter the country each year was cut in half.
... If free trade in physicians brought doctors' salaries down to European levels, the savings would be close to $100,000 per doctor, approximately $80 billion a year. This is 10 times as large as standard estimates of the gains from NAFTA."

That is such BS about doctors, I cannot believe it!

First of all, during the Clinton years, they cut the number of doctors in fellowship programs in half as a way of rationing healthcare to cut costs. Then, the system became overwhelmed, so they have a lot of foreign doctors entering the US to practice.

I don't know if the AMA was concerned about doctor's salaries, (that have been greatly reduced due to medicare cuts, with family practice docs almost unable to pay overhead and malpractice and still practice), but I do know the AMA is worried about quality of care. Many of the foreign doctors are poorly trained and do great harm to patients. America still has great training for MDs as does Canada and some European countries, but many from developing nations are down right dangerous!

Be afraid, be very afraid if they do this...especially if they come from Mexico, India and China (where they regularly treat all kinds of maladies with leeches, still)

Greenspan is simply pushing socialism...

And, as for lawyers, we don't have enough already????

Alan Greenspan is way more fun now that he's no longer helming the Federal Reserve. One day he's telling rapt audiences that a recession is possible–helping roil global financial markets in the process–the next day he's actually giving odds. (About 33 percent, if you're keeping track.)

And well he should---that imbecile is directly responsible for inflating the U.S. economy with the FED PRINTING PRESSES and 1 PERCENT INTEREST rates for close to TWO DECADES (18 years). He knew full well that he could give Ben Bernanke the opportunity for taking the heat caused by the INSANE MONETARY EXPANSION OF THE GREENSPAN YEARS!

When the giant Ponzi scheme of the Federal Reserve goes bust, blame him (Greenspan). What do you think the money supply is about? Balancing the flow of goods and services to attain stabilty! The only way to do that now is by letting 20 MILLION ILLEGALS dilute the inflationary pool Greenspan has created! Good job Al--you ignoramus--you boondoggler of epic proportions! You will go down in history as the moron you are!

Every citizen in this country better HOPE AND PRAY that the rest of the world does not bring it's 75 PERCENT of U.S. Currency ever created/printed, that are being held in reserves, back to this country to seek goods and services!

And you had better hope that the U.S. Dollar continues to be the currency of choice for oil producers!

I am all for letting in 100,000 foreign journalists a year. They couldn't be any worse liers than the bunch of American traitors we now have writing immigration stories.

I am so fed up with a certain bunch of men/women sitting around a table and messing with our livelihoods and our Country!

Greenspan, Bernacke and other so-called economists were on C-span the other night, and I swear they talked and talked and didn't say anything...threw around $5 words, sitting there like they thought they were so smart....

I think the globalists know they have screwed up everything, and they don't know what to do about it now!