As for a solution to your specific problem I am at a loss except to say that you must search hard and perhaps acquire a supplementary skill set (which is a microcosm of a broader solution). As it concerns the larger trend of adapting to globalization the only solution is to return competiveness to the American market by doing the following:
1.) Cutting taxes across the board.
This will inject the economy with real currency - not nominal currency - and ease the pressure felt by the bottom fifty percent of wage earners.
2.) Cutting government spending across the board.
This will decrease inflationary pressures on the market and restore value to our currency.
3.) Abolishing or greatly scaling back the authority of the Federal Reserve.
Restricting or removing the ability of the Fed to artificially control interest rates will allow them to assume their natural value. This will help keep lenders and borrowers more realistic in the way they distribute their funds which will lessen the intensity of boom and bust cycles. It will also facilitate liquidity in the market by making prices more readily ascertained by the consumer.
Furthermore, restricting or removing the Fed's ability to make loans will lessen inflationary pressures felt by those in lower income brackets. Influxes of cash only benefit those who get their hands on it first (usually the wealthy) and after they've spent it the lower income brackets suffer a loss in their currency's value. If you have one-thousand dollars in the bank today and an influx of currency resulted in half a percent inflation your thousand dollars (nominal value) would really be worth nine-hundred and ninety-five dollars (real value). Since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 the value of a dollar has gone down by 95.34%. [1]
4.) Removing counter-productive regulations which serve to encumber business owners and prospective employees alike. Prime examples are minimum wage laws which only limit the number of potential employees and the Sarbanes Oxley Act.
"Sarbanes-Oxley imposes costly new regulations on the financial services industry. These regulations are damaging American capital markets by providing an incentive for small US firms and foreign firms to deregister from US stock exchanges. According to a study by the prestigious Wharton Business School, the number of American companies deregistering from public stock exchanges nearly tripled during the year after Sarbanes-Oxley became law, while the New York Stock Exchange had only 10 new foreign listings in all of 2004.
The reluctance of small businesses and foreign firms to register on American stock exchanges is easily understood when one considers the costs Sarbanes-Oxley imposes on businesses. According to a survey by Kron/Ferry International, Sarbanes-Oxley cost Fortune 500 companies an average of $5.1 million in compliance expenses in 2004, while a study by the law firm of Foley and Lardner found the Act increased costs associated with being a publicly held company by 130 percent." [2]
-Ron Paul.
5.) There must be a paradigm shift in the way Americans view the labor force.
Americans must abandon the singular and static nature of acquiring and retaining employment and instead concentrate on diversifying and adapting to changing needs and methods.
A perfect example of this economic obsolescence is government cooperation with labor unions. Labor unions should be able to exist in a free market but they should not receive assistance from the government. Entrenched labor forces inhibit change and adaptation which is crucial to a market's overall efficiency.
Globalization cannot be ignored or counter-acted with protectionist nonsense. We must adapt or suffer a precipitous decline in our standard of living.
[1] -
Inflation Calculator: Bureau of Labor Statistics
[2] -
Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley!
