The Globalist from Nowhere: Making Governance Competitive in the International Environment

Abstract

Leaders in the United States have functioned for too long on the mistaken assumption that internationalization is incompatible with national interests. This is why international agreements like NAFTA and the GATT virtually ignore the role of government agencies, then leaders wonder why trade problems become so hopelessly enmeshed in legalisms. Our primary competitor, Japan, has internationalized more rapidly than any other country in the past two decades in terms of expanded world markets and acquisitions. Why? Precisely because that nation has always defined national interests in terms of economic interests--and accorded government agencies a primary role in achieving those ends. Today, Japan's worldwide surplus of $130 billion annually almost mirrors the annual U.S. trade deficit, which soared in 1994 to a record $160 billion. At this point in time, it is evident we need to take another look at the role of the U.S. government in the international trade arena, if only to figure out how to meet more effectively the growing global challenges confronting our nation. In other words, where do government agencies fit into this buccaneer global environment, where money moves across borders with the speed of light, companies are bought and sold without government interference, stocks are traded on a Moscow exchange, and where multinational corporations wield more power than the vast majority of the world's governments. Is government, as we know it, becoming irrelevant? If not, what are the new roles for public managers in this rapidly changing context? Where do U.S. interests lie, and what role do public managers play in preserving and protecting those interests? The move to ratify the new World Trade Organization (WTO) ushers these issues to center stage, where widespread ignorance has led to virtual abdication on the part of the nation's leaders. Members of Congress were given 48 hours to read and ratify the GATT treaty, a 1,000 page document (with 20,000 pages of supporting textual material), which will determine U.S. trade relations with the rest of the world well into the next century. There were few who either read or understood the sweeping ramifications of voting for the WTO, which divided power among the nations of the world equally, in effect, giving the United States the same voting power as Costa Rica. Egalitarian, yes; but even the United Nations has a Security Council, with power allocated according to more realistic criteria. Why, then, were so many members of congress ready to vote unquestioningly for a bill fraught with such uncertainty for government agencies, U.S. national sovereignty, and industrial competitiveness? Most likely because they bought the argument that government does not matter in the new world order; that instead, market forces will take on a life of their own that will obviate the need for public management. A few issues emphasize the urgent need for revising the role of U.S. public managers to heighten their impact on issues affecting the nation's international competitiveness. They involve clarifying agency roles to avoid duplication, eliminating agencies that do not work, removing the barriers that inhibit business development, and widening opportunities--wherever possible--that enhance technology. Preserving Critical Industries In the last decade, the United States experienced a serious crisis in its efforts to preserve industries vital to the nation's military security and international competitiveness. Dozens of studies, emanating from government agencies that sought to address these problems, documented the erosion of the nation's technological dominance, which spelled future problems for industries that relied on those technologies to maintain their competitive edge. The Commerce Department, for example, reported in 1990 that the United States was losing ground to Japan in all but 3 of 12 key technologies (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990); other agencies followed suit with similar warnings about semiconductors, aerospace, robotics, and a host of other industries and technologies. …