“Conscientious Equity: An American Entrepreneur’s Solutions to the World’s Greatest Problems” by Neal Asbury (Palgrave McMillan, $26).
Asbury, a nationally recognized advocate of entrepreneurship and free trade, promotes “conscientious equity” as the way to remove the inequities of policies that contributed to our mega-billion trade deficits. Using an Occam’s Razor (i.e. the simplest solution is often the best) approach, Asbury believes that a truly free global market will allow for prosperity among nations and put an end to despotic regimes.
He supports level-playing-field, free trade agreements that incorporate guidelines covering labor’s rights, environmental protections, intellectual property protection and a global monitoring system. When all nations play by the same rules, everyone prospers.
“Conscientious equity” may be a unicorn hunt, but any alternative to the present doesn’t-work trade system deserves examination, not criticism. During my conversation with Asbury, my eyes were opened: Dollar-for-dollar, “exports employ five times as many people as imports and pay 17 percent higher wages than imports.” His point: Exporting creates manufacturing jobs that pay much better than jobs in a service-based economy. While many manufacturing operations are large businesses, the Web creates opportunity for small- and medium-sized businesses, too.
There are 270 fair trade agreements; the U.S. is a party to 12. While America stands on the sidelines, the European Union and other countries have crafted/are crafting craft fair trade agreements that lower restrictions and tariffs with China, India, Japan, etc. Asbury sees fair entry in to these markets as the key to U.S. economic growth — the sooner, the better.
He does not advocate strong-arming other countries to trade with us on equal terms. He does believe that we can use American purchasing power and technological expertise as leverage that shows that a healthy U.S. economy is essential to global economic growth.
When it comes to economics, butter trumps guns.
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“The 5 Big Lies About American Business — Combating Smears Against the Free-Market Economy” by Michael Medved (Three Rivers Press, $15).
Medved, a talk-radio host heard in over 200 markets, defends America’s capital system by challenging way-left-wing rhetoric. Here are the “5 Lies” and his counterpoints:
Lie 1 — “The current downturn means the death of capitalism.” Every time there’s a recession, the pundits blame capitalism. Governments (ours included) employ regulatory knee-jerk reactions to “fix the system” and ignore the truth of business cycles. They also forget the stark contrasts of mid-to-late 20th century “Free World” economies and those of government-controlled “Iron Curtain” countries. Those countries gravitated toward the free-market model because communism and socialism didn’t work. Today, even China has recognized that the free market is essential to economic growth.
Lie 2 — “When the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.” Most of the people who started companies weren’t born with silver spoons in their mouths. They became rich by taking risks others would not take. As a result, they created jobs, investment and economic growth. Henry Ford put the world on wheels by mass producing an affordable automobile and paying high wages to assembly-line workers.
Lie 3 — “Business executives are overpaid and corrupt.” While the shady dealings of executives at AIG, Enron, WorldCom and Tyco dominated headlines, those with ethics go unnoticed. Outside the business executive context, the average major league baseball player’s salary in 2010 exceeds $3 million. Do fans complain about high ticket prices? Do ballplayers worry about keeping a business in business?
Lie 4 — “Big business is bad; small business is good.” All business is good. No business starts big; they become big by creating value. Hewlett-Packard stared in a garage.
Lie 5 — “Government is more fair and reliable than business.” If a private-sector company treats its customers poorly, those customers can shop elsewhere. Not so with government; compliance is mandatory.
Medved provides historical lessons that “tell the truth.”
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.