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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh Founder, Chairman & Publisher Ilayas Quraishi Chief Operating Officer Ela Dutt Editor T. Vishnudatta Jayaraman Washington D.C. Bureau Chief Archana Adalja Contributing Editor Arun Shah Ahmedabad Bureau Chief Peter Ferreira, Deval Parikh, Freelance Photographers Bhailal M. Patel Executive Vice President Chandrakant Koticha-Rajkot, India Executive Director Business Development Jim Gallentine Business Development Manager - U.S. Shahnaz Sheikh Senior Manager Advertising & Marketing Sonia Lalwani Advertising Manager Shailu Desai Advertising New York Muslima Shethwala Syed Sheeraz Mahmood Advertising Chicago Digant Sompura Consultant for Business Development Ahmedabad, India Hervender Singh Circulation Manager Main Office Editorial & Corporate Headquarters 1655 Oak Tree Toad, Suite 155 Edison, NJ 08820-2843 Tel. (212) 675-7515 Fax. (212) 675-7624 New York Office Tel: (718) 784-8555 E-mails editor@newsindiatimes.com advertising@newsindia-times.com subscription@newsindia-times.com Website www.newsindiatimes.com Chicago Office 2652 West Devon Avenue, Suite B Chicago, IL 60659 Tel. (773) 856-3345 California Office 650 Vermont Ave, Suite #46 Anaheim, CA 92805 Mumbai Office Nikita Ajay Pai Goregaon, West Mumbai Ahmedabad Office 303 Kashiparekh Complex C.G. Road, 29 Adarsh Society Ahmedabad 380009 Tel. 26446947 F ax. 26565596 Published weekly, Founded in 1975. The views expressed on the opinion pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of News India Times. Copyright © 2024, News India Times News India Times (ISSN 0199-901X) is published every Friday by Parikh Worldwide Media LLC., 1655 Oak Tree Toad, Suite 155 Edison, NJ 08820-2843 Periodicals postage paid at Newark, N.J. , and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address change to News India Times, 1655 Oak Tree Toad, Suite 155 Edison, NJ 08820-2843 Annual Subscription: United States: $28 Disclaimer: Parikh Worldwide Media assumes no liability for claims/ assumptions made in advertisements and advertorials. Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the authors and Parikh Worldwide Media does not officially endorse, and is not responsible or liable for them. Two Pro-Growth Policies For Harris: Immigration And Trade S martly ignoring peevish pundits who demand ever-more-detailed recitations of policy, Vice Presi- dent Kamala Harris knows that white papers do not win elections. (Nor are they terribly relevant, since the composition of Congress and facts on the ground next year will shape specific bills.) She did, however, provide signs in her acceptance speech of her economic philosophy: an “opportunity society” and aversion to tariffs (noting that they amount to a tax on consumers). She might build on these with promises to reform our legal immigration system and expand free-trade deals, two pro-growth policies. While illegal immigration absorbs most of the political discussion, legal immigration is a critical component of economic growth and solvency for our entitlement programs. (“In their 2023 report, the Social Security Trustees esti- mate a 75-year Social Security shortfall of 3.61% of taxable payroll under their midline immigration assumptions,” the Brookings Institution recently found. “But that number fluctuates from a 3.21% with a high immigration scenario to a 4.02% deficit in the low immigration scenario.”) With an aging population, the neces- sity for legal immigration to prevent economic contraction has become more urgent. And there is little dispute that im- migration is a boon to economic growth. Indeed, the faster-than-expected post- covid recovery is partly attributable to immigration. Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson shared recent research data in Time magazine: - - - “The economic activity directly gener- ated by increased immigration boosted real GDP growth by 0.1 percentage point in 2022 and 2023, according to our calculations. This year, we expect that continued strong immigration will boost real consumer spending growth by 0.2 percentage points and real GDP growth by 0.1 percentage point. “It is possible that the increased con- sumer demand raised prices and wages in particular sectors. Overall, though, we see little additional pressure on aggregate inflation because the increased immigra- tion also generated greater production. In other words, the increase in productive capacity helped to counteract inflation- ary pressures that would arise frommore people living in the U.S. . . . “Immigration helps address our long-run fiscal challenge. A National Academies report looked at immigrants who arrived between 2006 and 2013 and projects that over 75 years, each will contribute an average of $330,000 more in taxes than they and their descendants will receive in benefits. Immigration brings other long-term economic benefits too, including innovation and a boost to the productivity of native-born workers.” - - - There is no shortage of good ideas, ranging from dropping outdated country caps to granting foreign STEM graduates green cards to clearing the green-card backlog to increased visas for seasonal workers. (The issue is such a no-brainer that even felon and former president Donald Trump suggested giving green cards to foreign graduates.) Moreover, there is a direct link between immigration policy and high food costs. “On average, labor makes up about 15% (and climbing) of a farmer’s costs. And agriculture, like most industries, is fac- ing a severe workforce shortage,” writes former trade negotiator Stephen Craven. “Already, an estimated 10 million tons of food are not harvested each year due to labor shortages and other factors, accord- ing to theWorldWildlife Fund. Such a loss is one of the downsides of historically low unemployment.” Harris need not come up with a full- blown statute to address this highly tech- nical and complex problem. She could, however, commit to bringing in members of labor, business, state and local govern- ment and advocacy groups to make a comprehensive proposal to straighten out our legal immigration jumble. (Last year, the Cato Institute devised a highly instructive online game to show just how obtuse and costly it is for qualified immi- grants to navigate the system.) In keeping with her message, she certainly can affirm that immigrants who can contribute to the United States should find legal means to do so in an orderly fashion consistent with our economic needs. On the trade front, Harris has already denounced Trump’s tariff proposals. (Ap- parently neither Trump nor his advisers recall that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act helped trigger a worldwide depression.) She should be clear: This is economic self-destruction - of ourselves and our trading partners - that only an ignoramus could favor. “As fiscal policy, the Trump agenda amounts to regressive tax cuts, only partially paid for by regressive tax increases,” the Peterson Institute of In- ternational Economics recently reported. The report continued, “In contrast to Trump’s frequent, and mistaken, claims that foreigners bear the impact of tariffs, economists have long understood that tariffs burden domestic purchasers of im- ported goods. …The costs fromTrump’s proposed new tariffs will be nearly five times those caused by the Trump tariff shocks through late 2019, generating additional costs to consumers from this channel alone of about $500 billion per year.” In fact, Harris should align herself with pro-growth policies that lower barriers for U.S. businesses and farms, which survive on exports. A major casualty in trade wars, in particular, is American agricul- ture. And here, both in her effort to make headway in rural areas and in her effort to reduce grocery costs, Harris would be wise to focus on opening markets for American farmers and reducing food costs for American consumers. As trade negotiator Craven pointed out, “Given that the United States imports 15% of its food supply - including nearly all of its coffee and cacao, 60% of fresh fruit and nearly 40% of fresh vegetables - a 10% tariff [which Trump proposed] would amount to a cost increase on some of America’s most important imports.” He added: “As domestic suppliers are unlikely to be able to undercut them on price any time soon (America’s limited coffee farms, for instance, produce nowhere near the amount of coffee Americans drink), con- sumers are likely to foot the bill.” Pledging to address barriers with exist- ing trading partners, increasing funds available to help grow export markets for American farm and food products, and articulating “trade policies that advance American economic interests as well as American geopolitical interests,” as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put it, should be part of her op- portunity agenda. When opportunities to renew and expand free-trade agreements arise, Harris should commit to ensuring that the United States is not excluded from growing markets. (“One clear op- portunity for such reforms would be in the renewal of the terms of the [African Growth and Opportunity Act], slated for 2025; meanwhile, the governments of Colombia and Chile have given signs they are open to renegotiating their FTAs with the United States, presenting another opportunity to advance a new model for market access,” the Center for American Progress reported.) With just over two months until Elec- tion Day, few would suggest that the Harris administration churn out a slew of detailed white papers on two of the most technical and controversial issues: immigration and trade. But Harris can certainly link her approach - optimistic, confident, engaged in the world, looking to expand opportunity - to an immigra- tion and trade philosophy that aims to grow the pie, lift incomes and lower food costs. Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin’s “Green Room.” -TheWashington Post Vice President Kamala Harris onstage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22. Photo:Melina Mara/TheWashington Post By Jennifer Rubin Photo:TheWashington Post Commentary News India Times (August 31 - September 6, 2024) September 6, 2024 3