HOW SHOULD PUBLIC OFFICIALS ADDRESS OUTSOURCING?
When campaigning, public officials have found ways to confront outsourcing rhetorically. In the presidential campaign, for example, Democratic candidate John Kerry lashed out at Benedict Arnold CEOs, and criticized President George Bush for outsourcing the job of catching Osama bin Laden to Afghan warlords, thus forcing the United States to accept an inherently inferior product. Bush responded by saying he opposed isolationist and protectionist policies. But when placed in their roles as policymakers, public officials act with much less clarity. No major policy has been passed at the federal level to limit or regulate outsourcing — indeed, the trade agreements that the United States has signed may prohibit such limitations. Many states, though, have at least proposed bills to address the issue. At the city level, policymakers have little power over the overall issue of outsourcing, which is essentially a matter of international trade. What New York City can do is create incentive prog
