37,000 jobs lost in Oregon due to trade with China: Is it a public health issue?

By: NWHF Staff | Posted on: August 9th, 2008 | 3 comments | Share: Tweet This!
Categories: Disparities • Economic Issues • Policies & Laws • Polls • Public Health • Rural Health

37,000 jobs lost in Oregon due to trade with China: Is it a public health issue?

According to a DC-based Policy Institute study (published in the Portland Business Journal), 37,000 Oregon jobs have been lost due to trade with China. More than half the jobs paid above-average wages. During that period, the U.S. trade deficit with China rose from $84 billion to $262 billion.

According to the Oregon Center for Public Policy, Oregon’s legislators should help to provide job retraining for emerging industries such as alternative energy, and should find ways for Oregon workers to get adequate unemployment insurance and health care coverage.

After all, 37,000 lost jobs costs this state a lot of money in terms of mental health, substance abuse, alcoholism, and community violence.

What do you think? Do you agree with the recommendations by the Oregon Center for Public Policy?

And is this an issue of public health in Oregon?

Take our poll:

Please choose the statement that comes closest to how you personally feel. Feel free to make a comment if you want to clarify your answer or voice your opinion.



3 Comments:

1  Posted by lana on February 13th, 2012 at 02:01 AM

I am sorry to hear pf such issue going worldwide. I didn`t see it coming, therefore I took my master of public health diploma and found myself a stable job in the field, which I am really thrilled with, as a matter of fact. I really hope authorities will deal with this problem, for the very sake of all worldwide communities affected by this employment problem.

2  Posted by Don Hildenbrand on November 8th, 2009 at 03:00 PM

Our Economic System does seem to be broken, in the sense that it no longer cares for our citizens. Corporations/Wall Street now rule our country. Moving money is the reality. What happens to our citizens, families and their health and well-being is not really a priority of Wall Street. The Profit Motive rules absolutely. The current Recession is a result of Corporate greed. Congress “Bailed Out” the banks and financial institutions by giving them huge amounts of taxpayer cash with practically no oversight mechanisms. Then, the credit card companies and the banks started foreclosing, raising interest rates/fees to increase profit after being bailed out by the very same citizens who are now being ruined by losing their homes and their credit ratings. The impact on the health system will be devastating because now jobs and rental/home buying are tied directly to a person’s Credit Report. I think there are very dark times ahead for individuals and families.

3  Posted by S. Rhee on August 11th, 2008 at 12:26 PM

It’s not just the trade deficit, it’s the fact that we have an economic structure wherein most Americans’ earnings have not kept up with the cost of living—inducing not only the same community impacts as described in the post, but also contributing to massive failures of systems (such as housing, credit) and widening inequality gaps. Former labor secretary and now professor of public policy Robert Reich breaks it down in his August 4, 2008 post “The Heart of the Economic Mess,” which you can read at:  http://www.alternet.org/story/93729/



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