Political Outlook
What can we expect from the Obama administration regarding globalization?
A year ago, during the primaries, I had a web site that examined these issues. The post that got the most hits week after week was titled Barack Obama and Globalization. It was number 2 or 3 on Google. Why did it get so much traffic? Because there was nothing else out there. No one was asking the relevant questions of Obama, and he didn’t volunteer any information. Now, he is our president, and we still don’t know if he will be a protectionist or will continue to promote free trade. I tend to think he will be protectionist, considering Unions paid for almost half of his $600 million campaign. This could be potentially disastrous, especially when you consider how the Smoot-Hawley Tarriff affected the U.S. economy in the early years of the Great Depression. It remains to be seen how Obama will treat the globalization issue.
Do his education policies reflect the need for global competitiveness?
Another question nobody asked during the campaign. Certainly the new administration will do something for education, but will their strategy take into account the fact that other nations are producing more highly-skilled workers all the time?
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