All the talk on attracting domestic investment but all the work is on making it easier for money to leave
In any trade talks and cooperation talks, you can push a limited number of policy objectives. For Jack Lew, he's made US priorities clear in the latest talks with China.
He's gone to Beijing with two goals in mind:
- Asking China to cut industrial overcapacity
- Opening up China to US investment
The first one makes sense. China is producing things like steel at a loss and flooding world markets.
The second is curious.
Who benefits if China makes it easier for US businesses to invest there? Certainly companies do because they can take advantage of cheap workers. But do US workers? Or small businesses trying to compete in the US who need capital?
The US government isn't working to raise living standards and wages in the US. It's working to make companies more profitable.
