Recently there was a post related to a Mayor of a significantly-sized American city courting trading partners in Mexico. The story also included information about a US interstate roadway being identified as the primary route for this international trading as being owned and maintained by a foreign company. This piqued my interest and during some recent travel I had the time to explore this realm.

1) A recent Economic study analyzed competitive pressures from developing countries on developed countries and concluded that there is no direct head-to-head competition causing negative impact for a couple of reasons: A) the relative lack of quality assurance and automated production capacity from developing countries (in this case, Mexico) compared with the same segments in the US, and; B) in segments where Mexico is the strongest, the U.S. has indicated no interest in competing (again, in heavily manual labor tasks, such as; picking strawberries). Now to those unemployed American-born strawberry pickers, I say get a community college grant and re-tool your skill set immediately on Uncle Sam’s dime. These programs exist… take advantage of them.

Ref. http://papers.nber.org/papers/w16105

2) Foreign ownership of US roadways is both a blessing and a curse. Robert Poole, transportation director for the conservative think tank Reason Foundation, said private investors can raise more money than politicians to build new roads because these kind of owners are willing to raise tolls. “They depoliticize the tolling decision,” Poole said. Besides, he said, foreign companies have purchased infrastructure in Europe for years; only now are U.S. companies beginning to get into the business of buying roads and bridges. On the opposing side, John Foote, senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, said the government can take over a highway in an emergency. But he objects to selling roads to raise cash citing this as short-term thinking.

Ref. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13909

Now I think international trade is not only good but a logical prerequisite for being a member of a globalized world. I theorize that this proposed trade route through Texas and up through Tennessee will not only benefit Mexico but will revitalize several industry tiers in the U.S. that employ skilled workers who support American families. As far as who owns the route… I care not. I only care that the road is maintained BETTER than it has been maintained under government rule. A rule of thumb here: regulated private enterprise (American-owned or not) is ALWAYS better than full governmental bureaucracy. Please take note that I said “regulated” as a modicum of rules are important for keeping the oh-so-human trait of greed in check.

Title quote by Rebecca West