There’s an interesting policy paper out this month from The Cato Institute highlighting the extent to which America’s competitive position continues to deteriorate.
Written by Daniel Ikenson – who directs Cato’s trade policy center – the paper notes that our nation’s business climate “conspires to deter inward investment and to encourage companies to offshore operations that could otherwise be performed competitively in the United States.”
In other words America is becoming less hospitable to foreign investment – and less likely to see its own companies expand domestically.
Obviously, this is not a shock to anyone who has been paying attention. In the last twelve years America has plummeted from No. 2 to No. 18 on the economic freedom index. What did we honestly expect was going to happen?
But some of the numbers headlining Ikenson’s analysis are truly terrifying …
“While the U.S. claim to 17 percent of the world’s stock of foreign direct investment is impressive, the share stood at 39 percent as recently as 1999,” he writes. “It has been 12 years since the annual value of U.S. inward FDI set a record high of $314 billion, and since then, annual flows have failed to establish an upward trend. The most recent figures show a decline of 35 percent, from $227 billion in 2011 to $147 billion in 2012.”
Ouch … so much for “American exceptionalism.”
Ikenson’s report concludes with a sobering warning …
“The decisions we make now with respect to immigration, education, energy, trade, entitlements, taxes, and the role of government in managing the economy will determine the health, competitiveness, and relative significance of the U.S. economy in the decades ahead,” he writes.
Exactly … which is precisely why “Republicans” in the U.S. House need to stand fast on defunding President Barack Obama’s socialized medicine law (and grow a backbone on a whole host of other issues).
Anyway, to read Ikenson’s report in its entirety, click on the link below …
7 comments
America’s Credit Rating dropped for the first time under Obama…Haley appoints a NYC labor lawyer who knows nothing about workforce developement to run SCDEW…We the People deserve better!
Yes we do but the masses that u and I are paying for aays otherwise cause u be messing up da welfare… I foresee democratics in offife for the rest of my lifetime because ur middle class that pay for this stuff are now a minority. We r witnessing the fall of rome as they say. All because one group of people decided they were entitled to what u made for urself.
Looking at the “stickers” in your story’s picture, which one would you rather live in than the USA?
Well, Russia does have plenty of Vodka…
For now the USA, but this country keeps dropping and soon it will be global communism with the big three, USA , Russia and China. Mankind will stagnate and suffer. As the population grows and entrepreneurialism wanes under the crushing weight of government disease and famine will sweep the globe much like the plague did in the 1300s. Then government will shrink back to a manageable size. Gonna be a lot of dead people in the meantime.
DAMN! —– that’s downright depressing!
Would anyone expect the Cato Institute to say anything different? It would be like Fox News or Limbaugh endorsing Obama.