Correcting Douglas Administration Misinformation on VT Job Losses

Response to Kevin Dorn, Vermont’s Secretary of Commerce and Community Development's defensive outburst in Seven Days regarding job losses and the Douglas administration signing onto failed trade policies:

Thank you for the recent article on trade and jobs ("Labor Department Links Free Trade to Vermont Job Losses", Seven Days, 5/30/07).

It reminded us of the human costs of globalization as thousands of Vermont families are suffering from trade-related job losses. It exposed the hype about the purported benefits of international trade by providing facts instead of anecdotes. And it called the Governor to account for committing Vermont to "free" trade agreements without any input from the Legislature.

Commerce Sec. Dorn's letter in response criticized Sen. Ginny Lyons, Dan Brush, and myself for being "partisan" and for "selectively us[ing] statistics". But there's nothing partisan about Vermonters losing their jobs. And while we referred to data from the Vermont Dept. of Labor, Sec. Dorn referred to a biased report by the U.S. Business Roundtable that used outrageous methodology. It counted jobs related to receiving goods shipped into the U.S. as "trade" jobs. And by the way, the Dept. of Labor only reported jobs lost to trade since 2003 (1,700). This trend began long before then.

And Secretary Dorn is wrong to suggest that the Governor has no authority in matters of federal trade agreements. The law allows a governor to opt out of trade provisions regarding state procurement laws. Indeed, only 19 governors signed their states onto CAFTA's procurement provisions. The Governor effectively gave away an important piece of our sovereignty without bothering to consult with the Legislature.

Trade can be beneficial but it is certainly not without risk. Many economists are fond of saying that lower prices at Wal-Mart are worth the cost in lost jobs and lower wages. Easy for them to say, we haven't outsourced their jobs yet.

Doug Hoffer