From Mike McGraw of the KC Star:
Call it a condom conundrum.
At a time when the federal government is spending billions of stimulus dollars to stem the tide of U.S. layoffs, should that same government put even more Americans out of work by buying cheaper foreign products?
In this case, Chinese condoms.
That's the dilemma for the folks at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has distributed an estimated 10 billion U.S.-made AIDS-preventing condoms in poor countries around the world.
But not anymore.
In a move expected to cost 300 American jobs, the government is switching to cheaper off-shore condoms, including some made in China.
This is exactly what an economist would advise doing. Since foreign nations can produce condoms more cheaply than in the United States, buying them "off-shore" frees up domestic resources to do other things. Moreover, government gets more bang for its buck, freeing up cash for other projects. In short, international trade, while not always beneficial to everyone, is good for society as a whole and is, thus, stimulating to an economy.