Jobs and Investment, Coming and Going

On Friday, October 22, 2010  the Wall St. Journal (www.wsj.com) ran two articles, on the same page, about the global business aspect of American companies.  At the top of page B8 was the an article about ad agencies  expanding into Africa followed by one about an Italian investor increasing his investment in Saks Inc., an American company.  Check out - " Global Ad Agencies Flocking to Africa" and "Italian Mogul Della Valle Boosts His Interest in Saks".

Reading the two articles, one right after the other, reminded me again that trade travels in two directions.  However the impact can be seen both at "home" and "away".  In the first article we learn that  American ad agencies are expanding their business in Africa creating opportunities in countries including Nigeria and Kenya.  At the same time their expansion protects their relationships (and income) from American businesses that use their services globally.

The  second articles reveals that the two largest shareholders of Saks Inc now come from Italy and Mexico.  Their investments protect American jobs ranging from highly compensated executives to minimum wage employees who clean the stores at the end of the day. 

At a time when protectionist sentiment abounds, when trade agreements are stalled, we need to pay attention to reports like these.We need to remember that trade, investment and jobs come and go.
That the benefits of expansion and investment, as well as the costs, flow in two directions,  coming and going,