Wednesday, May 17, 2017

"A Marshall Plan for America"

The Chinese are advancing a great infrastructure agenda for both its national and international commitments. Whether they will conduct this agenda in an incremental or more radical pace is still to be determined. What must not be ignored is that China appears to be making a run to fill in the void left by the United States. While the United States should not be scared of other nations extending their global reach, that does not mean the United States should retreat inward away from global trends that would help our country in the long run. Take TPP or Trans World Partnership. What is the name of the nation that is helped the most by our withdrawing from the pact? China because it gives them an opportunity to become the leading Pacific power. Who does it hurt in the long run? The United States because our global reach will be compromised.

There is an interesting article/paper from the Center for American Progress calling for a Marshall Plan for America that would revamp our infrastructure and vital industries/service sectors as well as revitalize our lower and middle classes. It is not complete. There should be more specific proposals for specific sectors (like environmental-energy, exploration, health, the arts as well as more on education and child care, infrastructure) which this paper currently lacks. However, it is a proposal in the right direction and the United States should consider it for its national and global programs.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2017/05/16/432499/toward-marshall-plan-america/

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-11/china-needs-to-be-careful-with-new-silk-road-project

No comments:

Post a Comment

Editorial Cartoons for the Week