Climate Change and Passing the Baton
The baton of leadership is indeed being passed. It is being passed with regard to trade, climate change, economic development and jobs. The passing of the baton is reflective of U.S. national stages of emotion; from anger to resolve. Anger elected Trump. Resolve and change will succeed him. The baton is being passed not from the U.S. to China, but from a dysfunctional federal government of the U.S., to the states.
Federal Dysfunction
The inability of the U.S. federal government to solve the salient issues affecting a working-class white constituency is all too obvious. This lack of leadership in problem solving, in job creation, in fixing the tax regime of the U.S., in addressing the poignant healthcare issues of the U.S., have now been advertised to the world. This is epitomized in Trump's rant of "Pittsburgh first, not Paris." The utter short-sightedness and rank stupidity of such a statement will certainly appeal to the uneducated, unread and unaware. It however sends a more telling message. The Trump administration is incapable of leading in the 21st Century and it is time for the states of the U.S. to take on the mantle of leadership, as they always have.
Are Pittsburgh and Paris not inextricably connected in the 21st Century?
Trade and Jobs
NYTimes: Mr. Trump’s latest salvos against Germany have drawn criticism in recent days from other Republicans in a state that is home to 160 German companies and where German investment from 2011 to 2016 totaled $4.6 billion, resulting in more than 10,000 new jobs in South Carolina, according to data from the State Department of Commerce.
“I’m a little bit surprised and disappointed that the president has chosen to attack before he gets his facts straight,” said Ted Pitts, president and chief executive of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, who previously served as Ms. Haley’s chief of staff and, before that, as a Republican state legislator. “I guess we’re surprised that he’d try to make this claim at the expense of South Carolina and American jobs.”
In an interview on Wednesday, Germany’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Wittig, spoke of the ripple effect that German auto plants could have: A 2014 University of South Carolina study noted that for every job at the BMW plant, three others are created elsewhere.
“Anything that impedes the free flow of goods and services and people, and erects impediments to that free and fair trade order, is nefarious from our point of view,” Mr. Wittig said.
But the industries have vigorous defenders on both sides of the aisle. On Wednesday, Andy Berke, the Democratic mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn., spoke of the Volkswagen plant in town, which employs 3,200 people and is linked to at least 9,500 jobs at the plant’s suppliers, but has room to expand. Mr. Berke worried that Mr. Trump’s words might give the company pause.
A number of South Carolinians said they hoped that the Trump administration would recognize the complex reality that had evolved over time here. BMW’s 1992 announcement that it would build a plant in this area was seen as economic salvation for a region that knew its long-dominant textile industry was in its twilight. Last year, the plant produced more than 411,000 vehicles, making it the largest BMW plant by volume in the world. According to the company, which did not respond to a request for comment, 70 percent of those vehicles were exported.
My Comments:
Jobs
Elon Musk of Tesla and Space-X, who has and will create thousands of U.S jobs, has withdrawn from the president's advisory council.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who has provided leadership in creating at least 347,000 jobs in the digital economy, was never invited to counsel this president. Bezos owns the Washington Post, a thriving publication that is taking a deep dive into the Washington DC cesspool.
Draining the Swamp
Proclaiming to drain the swamp, the Trump administration has replaced it with a cesspool of self-entitlement. Conflicts of interest and ethical abuses run amok in this administration and the stench permeates every rank, from those of the lowly to those of the exalted.
Climate Change
NYTimes: The president referred to a published study to claim that the climate pact would result in “as much as 2.7 million lost jobs by 2025,” of which 440,000 would be in manufacturing. By 2040, he said, the losses would balloon to 6.5 million industrial jobs, or $3 trillion in lost economic output, or about $7,000 in reduced income for the average household.
Critics dispute the methodology of that study, by the National Economic Research Associates. They note that it was conducted for the American Council for Capital Formation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — both vocal opponents of climate regulations.
Economists argue that the projected job losses in the study assume the American economy will not use innovation to adapt to the new regulations. Apple, Mars, and Unilever are among companies that have said complying with the Paris agreement would open markets and generate jobs.
A raft of studies — from environmental organizations, Citibank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — argue that a failure to mitigate the effects of climate change could cost the economy trillions of dollars.
“China and Europe have become world leaders on the path toward green development already,” said Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, “and will strengthen their position if the U.S. slips back at the national level.”
Even operating outside the Paris accord, Mr. Trump insisted that the United States would be an environmental exemplar. “We’ll be the cleanest,” he promised. “We’re going to have the cleanest air. We’re going to have the cleanest water.”
That optimistic statement is contradicted by Yale University’s latest annual Environmental Performance Index.
The United States ranked 26th of 180 countries, according to the index, which assesses each nation’s water and air quality, biodiversity, agricultural outputs and climate change efforts. It ranked 43rd in air quality, 22nd in water sanitation, and 44th in climate and energy policies.
Moreover, even after recent reductions, America’s carbon emissions per capita remain significantly higher than those of China or India — countries that Mr. Trump branded as the world’s big polluters.
Talent, Responsibility and TV
Trump, whose reputation for leadership emanates from tv episodes in which he famously uttered the dreaded words; "you're fired!" His business career, for anyone who can read a balance sheet and a P&L statement, much less a tax return, is a dismal failure. How such a career can lead a constituency to conclude that Trump can run a country, is a sign of the dire need for education in our country. It is also a testament to its idolatry of "wealth."Trump, to his credit, has managed to draw on the talents of some outstanding leaders. General Mattis, General Kelly, Nikki Haley are standouts. It is now up to the states to lead. As the Marines, from which Trump has liberally drawn, taught me, "You can delegate authority but you can never, ever delegate responsibility.
The baton and the trillions stop here!