Jobs not protectionism is the need of the day to counter mounting inflationary pressures.

Mounting job losses have finally caught the attention of politicians within and outside the Washington beltway. President Bush recently shrugged off questions about the rising government deficit, arguing that "I am more concerned about somebody finding a job than I am about a number on paper." With nine million officially unemployed, and with millions more outside the labor force because they do not believe it is possible to find a job, the President's political future may well rest on his ability to create new jobs.

In that light, his announcement that he would create a new undersecretary of commerce post devoted to job creation is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, much of the discussion in the press has centered around stemming the flow of jobs to low wage nations, and placing the new Job Czar in Commerce does raise the possibility that attention will be diverted to trade with other nations. A worst case scenario would see the Job Czar's efforts focused on restricting imports or on favoritism for US exporters both of which are designed to raise prices to American consumers. Such an approach is not in the interests of Americans, nor is it in the interests of the rest of the world. The US (along with China) has been the major source of demand that has permitted global economic growth over the past decade. With Euroland now in a deep recession, and with continued sluggish growth (or worse) in most part of the world, restriction of imports by the US would be a disaster.

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