Intelligence Squared US

Any project funded by February’s $789 billion stimulus package is meant to use only US made steel and manufactured goods. Any financial institution receiving bail out funds must give preference to citizens. Will these policies backfire? Opponents say these policies will have little direct impact on job creation, and could have very harmful repercussions by triggering a global trade war in which each country seeks to “beggar its neighbor” in a vicious cycle of economic decline. Proponents argue that these policies focus taxpayer money to yield the biggest benefit for American families, they help American business to compete with cheap foreign labor, and that governments the world over already favor their domestic industries. Are we subsidizing the inefficient, or sparking a much needed boost to the economy?