Will History Repeat Itself?

Jeff Rubin, the former CIBC economist turned author, has suggested in his books that as energy costs rise, some manufacturing will return to North America. Indeed, there are growing signs that his prognostication will prove to be accurate.

An article in the online edition of the Hamilton Spectator offers this assessment:

Manufacturers are lining up to come back to North America, but a desperate labour shortage is hobbling their efforts.

Dubbed "reshoring" in industrial jargon, the trend sees companies that fled North America for low-wage countries such as China and India drifting back as Chinese wages rise and the costs of moving their products from the other side of the world becomes a burden.

While the situation may be grounds for guarded optimism, one part of the piece, in discussing why a return to North America is becoming increasingly feasible, must give one pause:

Other factors making North America attractive again are continuous innovation that has dramatically improved the cost performance of some companies, and wage erosion during the recent financial crisis. (Emphasis mine)

"There has been a sharp wage correction since 2009," said John Rose, chief economist of the City of Edmonton. "The positive note there is that it allows you to position yourself to move forward. When you come out of the downturn your cost structure is closer to what it should have been."

The fact that the 'cost structure is closer to what it should have been' has, I think, rather disturbing implications. Is the assumption underlying the statement that a severely chastened and disciplined workforce is one that will be willing to work in manufacturing for, say $12 an hour to start, so grateful will it be for the chance of reemployment?

If that is indeed the scenario fated to unfold as costs for overseas manufacturing continue to rise, will we eventually see a reechoing of labour history? Given the current low rate of unionization in this country, will we see, as workers once more become dissatisfied with being exploited, a resurgence in union drives so that once again, as in the days of yore, the employer will be forced to share more generously the profits made possible by the worker?

One can only hope for a return to both prosperity and equity in the workplace.

A Celebration of Literacy

Despite its rather lengthy history, yesterday was the first time my wife and I attended Toronto's Word On the Street, a celebration of books, literacy, and the dispelling of ignorance. As a retired English teacher and keen observer of the political machinations that envelop our society, it was very heartening to see so many thousands of people, many families with their children in tow, recognizing the crucial role that reading plays in a balanced and productive life.

This morning's Star reports the following:

Amidst the myriad of folks of all ages swarming Queen’s Park Circle for the Word on the Street Festival are parents like Stephen and Tara Palmer.

For them, it’s vital that twins, Tristan and Jacqueline, 4, develop a lifelong love of reading as early as possible.

“I think to be successful later in life in the field they choose to be in, (our kids) are going to need those skills. They’re going to need those skills to be basically happy people in society, to be well-rounded and to be able to think for themselves. The only thing you really own in this life is your mind,” said Stephen Palmer, 39, of Scarborough.

A profound observation: The only thing you really own in this life is your mind. When you think about it, that observation cuts through all of the propaganda we receive on a daily basis about the keys to fulfillment lying in the next purchase, be it the newest IPhone, the newest car, or the biggest house. Indeed, if we really can think for ourselves, we will inevitably conclude that constant growth and expansion through consumerism really is unsustainable.

And that was certainly the message of two of the 'rock stars' of ScotiaBank's Giller Prize speakers' series yesterday at the festival. On a tour together, Canadian icon and renowned scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki, and Jeff Rubin, the economist who has now written two books projecting our future as our energy costs rise, both agree that 'smaller' is an inevitable part of what awaits us.

Listening to these two men, and the intelligent questions that ensued after their presentations, made me realize even more acutely how blinkered and Manichean the Harper regime's outlook is. While regarding people like Suuzki as the enemy of the economy, the regime ignores the fact, as he pointed out, that a healthy biosphere is essential to a healthy economy, and that the two are really part of the same equation. For his part Rubin allowed that he would not expand the development of the tarsands until Canada had extracted much more of its value by refining the bitumen in Canada instead of exporting it away to be done in the U.S., thereby denying the creation of good jobs here.

Both men said much more, but I came away from the festival, having listened to other speakers as well, with the renewed conviction that an informed and literate electorate is the only real weapon against those who would further enslave us through our collective ignorance.