Tired of Racing to the Bottom?

Worldwide since the early 1990's we've witnessed the global push towards free trade. Today, labor forces are susceptible to the race to the bottom business model as large labor pools exist worldwide and large multi-national corporations draw from them until the standard of living is raised to a point where another countries labor force provides a more affordable labor force. Since large corporations can freely move capital they can and do easily move their operations from country to country.

When competition becomes fierce between states in a particular area of trade, production or commerce, states politicians are given increased incentive to dismantle currently existing regulatory standards to further their own means.

Our federal system has always been vulnerable to interstate competition. Look around, do our states compete with each other as each tries to underbid the others in lowering taxes, spending, regulation...so as to make itself more attractive to outside financial interests or unattractive to unwanted outsiders.

Races to the bottom affect many things, including but not limited to the following: infrastructure, tax revenues, human and natural resources, social services, labor standards, environmental and safety standards.

We see it today in our middle class standard of living, in the distribution of our countries income, and self serving politicians wanting to privatize government services such as prison systems, educational institutions, health care and social security systems.

The term is frequently used pejoratively, to describe the elimination of what is seen as beneficial legislation: environmental safeguards or workers' rights, for example, however, there are instances where a race to the bottom drives efficiencies in bureaucracy and/or eliminates graft.

The mere fact that we live in a Federal System provides us an opportunity to limit the "eat our young" mentality of the race to the bottom.

One such example of a Federal Regulation enacted to prevent the rape and pillage of the American Citizen working in our labor pool is the "Minimum Wage Law"

Eyes wide open people as we can limit the ill effects of races to the bottom since our federal government has recourse to enact legislation slowing or halting the race before its effects become too pervasive.

Don't be caught standing out in the cold. Do you know where your elected official stands?