One hundred days into Obama's term, the people of the U.S. begin to look into his beliefs on trade, and he is appearing to be more pro-trade than most thought. This is leaving some with a sour taste in their mouths. Many people are beginning to blame the decline in American jobs on President Obama's plans to continue trade with foreign nations, taking away from jobs that could potentionally be given to the millions of unemployed workers currently living in the United States. Obama can only respond by explaining that with a changing economy comes a change in how you go about fixing our nation's problem. "Obama has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he does not want to risk the rise of global protectionism that could make the financial crisis much worse." By closing off ties with other countries and lessening trade by use of protectionism Obama would be welcoming a higher price for any foreign goods, an increase in inflation, a tighter monetary policy, and thus higher interest rates. With higher interest rates, investment would continue to decline, only worsening our current situation. "Prices tamed by competition gave monetary policy-makers greater leeway to err on the side of economic growth" (Richard W. Fisher). So Obama has it right, steering clear of protectionism and embracing global trade is one way to help our current recession, although it may seem as though jobs are being stolen from the American people.
-SC
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