Source: Carnegie

These are not normal times. Two changes in the past decade have produced a huge global oversupply of labor and intense competition for an expanding array of jobs. First, the Cold War’s end threw millions of workers, who formerly produced only for the socialist bloc, onto the global labor market. And second, that market has become integrated by technological change that now permits outsourcing of service as well as manufacturing jobs. The current economic recovery will not solve the resulting global mismatch of supply and demand, and it cannot be addressed by the United States alone. Many current policies aggravate the problem. This paper proposes that the Unites States revise its policies and devote a concerted effort to get the major countries to work together to expand employment at that global level.

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About the Author
Sandra Polaski directs the Trade, Equity and Development Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She served as the U.S. Secretary of State’s special representative for international labor affairs from 1999–2002, playing a leading role in the development of U.S. government policy on international labor issues. Polaski’s research has included the impact of NAFTA on employment, wages and household incomes, published in the report NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere (Carnegie Endowment, 2003). She has also written extensively on trade, development and labor policy in essays including Trade and Labor Standards: A Strategy for Developing Countries (Carnegie Endowment, 2003) and How to Build a Better Trade Pact with Central America (Carnegie Endowment, July 2003).