Advice From the Top: More Trade, More Jobs

November 22, 2010

Wall Street Journal

Alan Murray

Members of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council responded to the call for "jobs, jobs, jobs" from voters and politicians this election year with a clear retort of their own:

Government and business leaders should "aggressively promote a global marketplace that benefits U.S. businesses and consumers," the nearly 100 big-company CEOs said in the top priority that they crafted and adopted during their annual meeting in Washington. They called on business leaders and political leaders to launch a public-private effort to promote free-trade agreements, encourage exports, and keep U.S. market open to imports. They also called on the U.S. government to "equalize" the corporate tax—for example, lowering it to match other countries, in order to encourage companies to make their profits in the U.S. And they urged that immigration laws be eased to allow the world's best and brightest to come work in the U.S.

The call for open trade came after GOP pollster Bill McInturff warned the group that the words "free trade" have become toxic in the nation's political discourse. Voters view the term as synonymous with outsourcing, which in turn, they believe, costs Americans jobs.

The CEOs, however, focused on the logic of the current global financial predicament. The U.S. must cut its budget and trade deficits in order to rebalance a world economy in which huge U. S. deficits are financed by the surpluses of China and Germany. For the U.S. to grow and create jobs while the trade deficit is shrinking, exports must lead the way. And to increase exports, the CEOs believe, the U.S. must wholeheartedly embrace and promote an open global trading system.

The CEOs also called on President Obama to exercise leadership by advocating "a competitive business environment to create healthy companies, jobs and rising standards of living." If the president wants to create private-sector jobs, they argued, he must become "an advocate for business in general."

The third annual CEO Council meeting came at a time of strained relations between the business community and the White House, and it followed a historic election in which Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. The group heard from top members of President Obama's cabinet, as well as soon-to-be leaders of the House.

The discussions between the business leaders and political leaders from both sides of the aisle were frequently intense. But all agreed that the challenges ahead required better cooperation between business and government.

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