The idea that America is the loser on the global marketplace is news to our competitors. The Europeans have been trying for years to reform their labor markets in an effort to reach our job creation rates. The Japanese are just now starting to see our growth rates for the first time in a generation. Our Mexican friends would give anything to have our productivity levels — not to mention our institutional stability. Our Canadian friends obviously covet our climate — more than one Canadian in ten owns real estate in the U.S. — but why does their Prime Minister visit San Francisco every time he comes south of the 49th Parallel? He is courting the technology industry on behalf of Toronto and Montreal in hopes of copying our ability to innovate.

At the Bush Institute, we have looked at globalization since NAFTA and its impacts on American growth, job creation, trade, and competitiveness. We have looked at the impact of immigrants on our economy. We see a largely positive picture of growing prosperity based on stable demographics, innovation, and rising productivity.

But we recognize that too many in our country still struggle to reach the middle class, and that many Americans feel left behind and betrayed by the globalization of our economy. We understand that it is incumbent on those of us who believe in the transformative power of the global marketplace to propose policies that help restore our nation’s faith in our ability to compete. We have done it repeatedly in the past and there is no reason we can’t do it again now.