Hey Barack: People start companies in order to profit

Posted Feb 25th 2008 4:31PM by Aaron Katsman
Filed under: Mexico, Entrepreneurs, Politics, Presidential Elections

In an attempt to explain his position regarding trade, Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama said that he did not oppose free trade, despite making increasingly critical comments about multilateral deals such as NAFTA.

Asked how other countries should interpret his position, Obama responded that he supported free trade but wanted it to be fair.

"What the world should interpret is my consistent position, which is I believe in trade," he said after meeting with workers at a manufacturing plant in Ohio.

"I just want to make sure that the rules of the road apply to everybody and they are fair and that they reflect the interests of workers and not just corporate profits."

Well why, Senator Obama, do companies want to engage in trade? The answer is because both sides feel that they can gain from the deal. Corporations engage in trade to profit. Period. Entrepreneurs start companies because they think they can make a buck. On the other side, poorer countries want to trade to help create wealth.

Obama said he opposed NAFTA from the start and U.S. workers were not the only ones to suffer from its effects. "Wages and benefits in Mexico had not been improved by the treaty," he said.

Really? To judge NAFTA's success, just take a look at the economy of Mexico. Mexico has enjoyed strong growth over the last decade, their stock market has shot up, there has been an expansion of the middle class, and newly created wealth. In fact the iShares Mexico index (NYSE:EWW) has tripled over the last decade. What's wrong with that?

Corporations are providing jobs to citizens who otherwise would be unemployed. It's their choice to take a low paying job, but they choose to take it in order to better their lot in society. The " interest of workers" is to have a job, and try and provide for their families. Perhaps the reason that these jobs have been leaving America is because labor unions have created a situation where companies can't profit, and if they can't profit then they must look for an alternative.

Why is someone who never ran a business or ever had a job in the private for profit sector considered and expert on international trade? If politicians, not just Obama, really wanted to improve the economic lot of their constituents, they would get out of the way and let the market take care of itself.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no positions in any stock mentioned as of 2/25/08.

Tags: Barack Obama, BarackObama, EWW, Free Trade, FreeTrade, inthenews, Mexico, NAFTA

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-25-2008 @ 4:47PM

Billy said...

It's getting top the point where I don't even need to read the headlines anymore; if the article is written by a Jew I know exactly what its contents will be. You guys can't even hide your inherent prejudice or intolerance anymore.

And for the love of God, enough with the “Israel first, America second” mindset you all have, it’s the most unpatriotic thing I’ve ever seen.

I even read an article on Haertz saying Israelis would miss GWB. That tells you everything. One of the worst presidents in US history and Israelis love him…

2-26-2008 @ 7:55PM

Aaron Martin-Colby said...

Ok, wow, Billy.

Good job on sounding like a bigoted twat.

2-25-2008 @ 5:17PM

Jeff said...

Lets jump to conclusions:

Reflecting the interests of the workers = “stock market shot up”
NAFTA = two corporations engaging in trade, “because both sides feel that they can gain from the deal”
Obama discussing trade = “considered and expert on international trade”
Increased trade = “the interest of workers”

This is Bush War Logic. Try to come up with some real meat to discuss your problems with Obama becoming president.

2-25-2008 @ 5:44PM

John said...

If the Marines only had time to save one state, say North Dakota or Israel, and you can't/won't vote to save North Dakota every single time no matter what without thinking twice about it, then you're not an American.

2-25-2008 @ 5:53PM

naman said...

Another Jimmy Carter in the making. Another "lets bring all our jobs backs from them stinkin' furriners" mold of politician. The world has changed and we're all connected. Give up the protectionist rant, Senator, because you'll need all the extra tax revenue to fix serious problems like our looming Social Security and Medicare crisis'.