[Mikey_1962]

According to the Economist Goolsbee:

"60 to 70 percent of the economy faces virtually no international competition." America's 18.5 million government employees have little to fear from free trade; neither do auto mechanics, dentists and many others."

He also notes:

"that all imports are only 16.7 percent of the U.S. economy and imports from China are a small portion of all imports. Those from China amount to 2.2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Mexico, he says, is genuinely stressed by China, whose exported products "overlap" with nearly two-thirds of Mexico's. China's exports overlap with 5 percent to 10 percent of America's economy.

[Nervous Tick]

>> America’s 18.5 million government employees have little to fear from free trade; neither do auto mechanics, dentists

This maroon is an economist???

Building a vibrant economy on government employment, car repair, and dentistry is (shall we say) quite a challenge.

[GulfBreeze]

Goolsby is way off the mark. Many jobs formerly handled by government workers ARE indeed being outsourced out of country.

One Small Example: Hundreds of County Clerks are sending original documents, copies and microfilm/fische oversees to be imaged onto CD/DVD. This is a task that could be handled with American companies or in-house staff.