To the editor:
Re: "Wage war," Jan. 13.
Business tends to look at wages only as expenses but a wage increase is added purchasing power in the economy that would eventually find its way back to business as increased consumer spending. We can't run a consumer economy without purchasing power. In return for paying ourselves more, the government should help business by ensuring that we spend most of our money on Canadianmade goods and services. Specifically, we should import less and manufacture more. That would eliminate unemployment, increase growth and wages, and provide for a larger tax base.
Before the World Trade Organization (WTO) cries "protectionism," it should note that "no free trade" would not mean "no trade." All through history, people and countries traded despite trade barriers. However, importing should be governed by the importer's needs and wants, and not by the ability of low-cost exporters to dump cheap goods onto the open markets of richer countries-cutting home production, employment and living standards there.
Joe Bako, Vancouver
