Okay follow me on this JAM VIEWS solution. The answer to today's multiple challenges is to 1) re-invoke the Monroe Doctrine, 2) move manufacturing and production away from the Far East and to Central and South America, and 3) then replicate Amazon's new Corporate University over and over. (see again, JAM VIEWS Post "Corporate Universities" - I knew Bezos was reading it on Sunday mornings!). While this master plan will solve a myriad of current problems for the United States, and so many others, the best part is that all of the baseball cap makers will only have to add one more "A" to produce "MAGAA" for "Make America Great Again - All of it." Now, follow the pieces of the puzzle.
1) President Monroe drafted the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 to basically tell the world to stay out of the Western Hemisphere, and to communicate that an attack on our neighbors, or setting up shop in our backyard, would be viewed as an affront to the United States. For example, this Doctrine even empowered JFK to blockade Khrushchev's missiles from reaching Cuba. Yet, as JAM VIEWS members have learned, everything is about money, and clearly we have missed the real war in our own backyard by sending our business half-way around the world.
2) Former Secretary of State, George Shultz, a great American, recently released his thoughts for the U.S. Government to rebuild Central America, which included a long list of government programs but left out the billions, if not trillions, of U.S. taxpayer dollars required. (see again, JAM VIEWS Post "The Government Has No Money"). But, with great respect to Secretary Shultz, I believe he, again, has it backwards. Instead, we should keep the inefficient and unproductive government out of it, and should unleash Corporate America and unfettered capitalism among the entire Central and South American region.
How many centuries, or millennia, must it take for people to understand that government programs such as Foreign Aid, the IMF, The World Bank, the U.N., and a thousand more at best apply a short-term band-aid, and more commonly further propagate poverty, dependency, and crime? To keep a man down, give him a helping hand but not a hand up. Capitalism provides hands up and steps up which actually change the entire paradigm long-term.
The U.S. Government should play its proper and powerful role of providing "signaling" and freeing of the "invisible hand," and then get out of the way. The current Administration has demonstrated this power with the trade and ideological confrontation with China. Following the implementation of 25% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, and the threat of duty on another $300 billion, Chinese exports to the U.S. have fallen 12.3% year-over-year from January through May. Corporate America has quickly adapted and reordered global manufacturing supply chains. Vietnam imports to the U.S. in the same period are up 36.4%, Taiwan has increased 22.5%, and South Korea is up 12.4%. But, we need to bring all of this back to the Western Hemisphere. President Monroe would argue for a long list of collateral benefits for everyone.
The U.S. Government should signal ("something that incites to action") that Central and South America are reopened for business by a) creating low-tax and zero-tax industries and enterprise zones, b) translating FICA and FUTA tax exemptions to earned income back to U.S. corporations and individuals, c) expanding corporate entity legal protection to these areas to mimic pro-business environments in places such as Nevada and Wyoming, d) enabling and endorsing private protection of employees, facilities, and communities, and e) encouraging private training and education systems for workers, to name only a few tactics.
Again, the U.S. Government's role is to effect the structure, manage international relations, and cheerlead the thousands of corporations which would overnight transform our neighbors' visions from hopelessness to prosperity. How long did it take Yeti, iRobot, Crocs, and now Apple to change their Chinese production lines and the tremendous number of variables in that equation? Five months? Diesel-engine maker Cummins Inc. said it has avoided $50 million in tariff expenses by moving production to India.
What would happen tomorrow in the Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, or in Venezuela, if Pepsi opened a new local facility with 1,200 entry-level jobs? The caravan would disband overnight. Remember the story of how New York City's government was too inept to renovate Times Square's ice skating rink, so citizen Trump took over the project and completed it ahead of schedule and under budget? Remember last week's Post about how the U.S. Government couldn't free the Iranian hostages, so Ross Perot trained up a team of employees and went in and rescued his people?
You must not get confused about who creates the problems and who solves the problems. Secretary Shultz claims that after the "violence, riots and cultural malaise" of the 60's and 70's, "elected leaders here and elsewhere committed themselves to solving the problems of the day." What actually happened was that we finally pulled out of the disaster created by the Government called The Vietnam War, and repositioned the citizens and our capital to soon be freed by lower taxes, reduced regulations, and path back to free markets.
3) Finally, I more than anyone want to protect and promote U.S. Jobs, but let's review why these East Asian jobs are never coming back to the U.S., and why that's actually a win-win. First, we cannot turn the clock back far enough for the economics to make sense in the U.S. John Hoge, co-owner of Sea Eagle Boats, says, "If we were to try to do a factory in the U.S., it would be enormously expensive." Due to our nation's great success, our time for this production has passed, and now we should fully pass the baton to our Western Hemisphere partners.
Second, creating prosperity in Central and South America not only brings illegal immigration to a screeching halt, but will actually attract million of undocumented aliens, as well as U.S. citizens to emigrate to these burgeoning opportunities. These good, hardworking people will find opportunities and dignity, and will also not desire, or have the need, to be enrolled in U.S. subsistence programs. (Did you see all 12 debaters, to include Joe Biden, raise their hands in support of U.S. taxpayers picking up the tab for complete healthcare for all illegal immigrants?).
Third, Corporate America, itself, will follow Amazon's recent lead to take on the responsibility of upgrading workers' skills and education out of sheer necessity. Jeff Bezos is not relying on the irrelevant university campuses or the federal job training programs which are run by labor unions with little connection to the real future needs of employers. Just as we promoted in our "Corporate Universities" Post, Amazon has now committed to retrain a third of its U.S. workforce, nearly 100,000 employees, in robotics, drones, machine learning and other specialties which fill the "skills gap" in the U.S. Employees will earn certifications, degrees, and even graduate-level education, all without the tens of thousands of dollars in loans.
Amazon made clear that this is not charity, but that they are simply acting in their own "self-interest by providing these educational benefits to attract and retain workers to stay ahead of competitors in a tight labor market." Bezos must also be reading Adam Smith. And, as opposed to Bernie's plan, this doesn't cost taxpayers one dollar. Better yet, maybe we might even see a tectonic shift in American universities to provide better, relevant education at competitive, much lower prices. Nice job, Amazon.
Okay, so you understand the plan? Let's make it happen and meet next month for our first board meeting in the Dominican Republic. Mai tais and pina coladas for all my friends! Have a great week!
"Yes, Latinos dream more. When you live in poverty, when your president is imposed upon you, when they kill someone and no one gets indicted, and when only a few get rich, of course you dream more. It's no coincidence that magic realism happens in Latin America, because for us dreams and aspirations are part of life." - Jorge Ramos
** Many thanks to the WSJ, Forbes, and Fortune for the above statistics and quotations.
For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com.
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