Two articles - How the Economy Was Lost, and the Panic of 1873

Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 12:57 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1982 -- 2/23/2009 >>>>>

The newest commentary by Paul Craig Roberts is scary stuff. Don't read it
until you are sitting down!

It's about a lot more than H-1B, but the important thing is that he
understands the role H-1B in furthering the downfall of the U.S. economy.
It's actually very rare to find a prominent writer that understands the
relationship between H-1B and age discrimination.

Here are three great excerpts from the article. It's worth your time to read
it all. Vdare has an excellent archive of Paul Craig Roberts articles
at:
http://www.vdare.com/roberts/all_columns.htm

http://www.vdare.com/roberts/090223_economy.htm
By Paul Craig Roberts

"The American corporations quickly learned that by declaring "shortages"

of skilled Americans, they could get from Congress H-1b work visas for lower
paid foreigners with whom to replace their American work force. Many US
corporations are known for forcing their US employees to train their foreign
replacements in exchange for severance pay."

"The pressure of jobs offshoring, together with massive imports, has

destroyed the economic prospects for all Americans, except the CEOs who
receive "performance" bonuses for moving American jobs offshore or giving them
to H-1b work visa holders. Lowly paid offshored employees, together with H-
1b visas, have curtailed employment for older and more experienced American
workers. Older workers traditionally receive higher pay. However, when the
determining factor is minimizing labor costs for the sake of shareholder
returns and management bonuses, older workers are unaffordable.

Doing a good job, providing a good service, is no longer the corporation s

function. Instead, the goal is to minimize labor costs at all cost."

"If truth be known, the "banking problem" is the least of our worries.

Our economy faces two much more serious problems. One is that offshoring and
H-1b visas have stopped the growth of family incomes, except, of course, for
the super rich."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The following article is a very good one and well worth reading. Scott Nelson
makes very good points that what we are experiencing is more like the "Panic
of 1873" than the "Great Depression." One of his conclusions is flawed --
apparently he didn't read the microfilm all the way to the year 1885. By that
time the U.S. public decided to put an end to allowing robber barons from
exploiting cheap foreign labor like coolies to do the work Americans wanted.
Using coolies and other types of cheap foreign labor was not a matter of
scapegoating as a much as a matter of fact. Indentured servitude was outlawed
when the Alien Contract Act of 1885 was passed. It's unlikely this law would
have ever passed had the Panic of 1873 never occurred. The 1885 law did a
fairly good job of protecting Americans from cheap foreign labor until its
repeal in 1952 when the H-1 visa program was established.

Looks like history is repeating itself!

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=477k3d8mh2wmtpc4b6h07p4hy9z83x18
The Real Great Depression
The depression of 1929 is the wrong model for the current economic crisis By
SCOTT REYNOLDS NELSON

"A widespread consolidation of industries may be on the horizon, along with

a nationalistic response of high tariff barriers, a decline in international
trade, and scapegoating of immigrant competitors for scarce jobs. The failure
in July of the World Trade Organization talks begun in Doha seven years ago
suggests a new wave of protectionism may be on the way."

"In the end, the Panic of 1873 demonstrated that the center of gravity for

the world's credit had shifted west -- from Central Europe toward the United
States. The current panic suggests a further shift -- from the United States
to China and India. Beyond that I would not hazard a guess. I still have
microfilm to read."

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