美国应该学习中国——
拓展海外市场，促进本土就业

国外刺激销售，国内促进就业

    奥巴马总统和他的幕僚们并不鼓励跨国公司，他们现在总是用老套的长篇大论，批评那些公司“把工作机会输出到海外”。实际上，为了进入海外市场，跨国公司确实建立了海外业务，雇佣了外国员工。但与此同时，这些业务也在美国本土创造了新的工作岗位。

    俄亥俄州凯尼恩学院（Kenyon College）的经济学家威廉姆•梅里克指出，1997年到2007年的十年里，美国公司在海外创造了380万个工作岗位，但与此同时，它们在美国国内也创造了210万个工作岗位。

    根据梅里克的统计，有三分之二总部位于美国的跨国公司，其国外子公司和美国本土母公司在岗位数量上的增加和减少是同步的；仅有很少一部分公司，其海外工作岗位的增加是以牺牲美国本土就业机会为代价的。

    今年秋天，美国国会将会大幅削减联邦国际事务预算，其中包括为支持美国出口的代理机构提供的资金，以及用于资助贫穷国家的预算等。作为控制政府开支而采取的措施之一，此次预算削减的一部分顺理成章且很有必要。但在经济危机之下，立法者也可能禁不住诱惑，对美国在海外的领导地位视而不见，反而转向国内寻求经济发展机遇。

    国际事务预算的一部分（与公众的观点相反，仅占预算的1.5%）被用于支持出口公司，比如提供风险保障与资金的海外私人投资公司（Overseas Private Investment Corp.）、用于协助出口融资的美国进出口银行（Export Import Bank），以及负责组织贸易考察的美国贸易与发展署（U.S. Trade and Development Agency）。此外，人道主义援助也能给美国带来收益。

    在近期的一次市政会议上，佛罗里达州参议员马可•鲁比欧以美国前总统布什的抗艾计划为例，强调了人道主义援助的重要性：“如果方法得当，这类项目可以通过一种积极的方式扩大美国的影响力，”抗艾计划拯救了400多万人的生命，使美国在非洲获得了良好的声誉。

    尽管这位颇受欢迎的共和党人士（茶党拥护者）发表了这样的评论，但狭隘主义依然盘踞在国会山。佐利克表示：“我去国会，质问他们将采取什么措施，提升美国的竞争力。但他们并未将眼光投向海外。私营部门却早已看清形势，在这方面将政府公共部门远远抛在了身后。”

    当然，遥遥领先的还有一个国家：中国。

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

International sales, domestic jobs

    Instead of encouraging multinational business, President Obama and his advisers offer their now familiar tirade against companies "shipping jobs overseas." In fact, companies do build overseas operations, and hire foreign workers, to tap offshore markets. But those operations also produce jobs here at home.

    William Melick, an economist at Ohio's Kenyon College, notes that the 3.8 million offshore jobs created between 1997 and 2007 were complemented by 2.1 million produced by those same firms inside American borders.

    Melick calculated that for two-thirds of U.S. based multinationals, jobs in foreign affiliates and the U.S. parent company move up and down together; only in a small minority does foreign employment rise at the expense of U.S. jobs.

    The federal international affairs budget -- funding everything from agencies supporting U.S. exports to aid to poor countries -- faces sharp cuts from Congress this fall. Part of that is a natural, and necessary, part of any serious effort to rein in government spending. But there is also the temptation -- at a time of economic crisis -- for lawmakers to turn inward rather than seek economic opportunity in continued American leadership abroad.

    Part of the international affairs budget (which, contrary to public perception, is only 1.5% of the budget) supports exporting companies, like the Overseas Private Investment Corp., providing risk insurance and capital, the Export Import Bank to help finance exports, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency that hosts trade missions. And humanitarian aid can redound to America's benefit.

    "If done right, it spreads American influence in a positive way," Florida Senator Marco Rubio told a recent town hall, citing the widespread goodwill in Africa that resulted from President Bush's anti-AIDS initiative, credited with saving 4 million lives.

    Despite comments like those from a popular Republican tea partier, parochialism is settling in on Capitol Hill. "I go to the Hill and ask what they're doing to make America more competitive," Zoellick says. "They're not looking beyond our borders. The private sector is so much farther ahead than the public sector in recognizing what's happening."

    And there's someone else that's farther ahead on that score: China.