According to Diane Sawyer, per her recent TV special, if every American spent just $64 more this year on American-made products, 200,000 new jobs would be created.
As you might imagine, per my previous commentaries, I would question the accuracy (on a net-effect basis) of her assumption. For it entirely ignores, as does virtually every jobs estimate related to targeted spending, the effect of diverting dollars that were previously allocated elsewhere. The estimates never reflect the job-losing impact on the prior recipients of the, in Ms. Sawyer’s example, $20 billion…
That said, far be it for me to discourage anyone from spending whatever they please at whatever price they’re willing to pay on whatever item they desire from whatever nation it was produced… All I want is the freedom to buy whatever I need from wherever I choose to buy it. If I’m compelled to spend a few extra bucks on an American-made product, I have the freedom to do it. If on the other hand I choose to save a few bucks and buy the product made on the other side of the Pacific and spend my savings at the American-family-owned Yodigity Yogurt, I demand the freedom to do it…
That’s all…