Trump's Buying and Hiring Mistake

President Donald Trump’s latest executive order calls on the U.S. to “Buy American and Hire American.” Like so many of Trump’s heroic declarations, this one may not amount to much. Yet even if it’s mere noise, its rhetoric and rationale are worth a moment’s thought.

The order has two parts -- one calling for a review of the H-1B visa program, to ensure that foreign workers in the U.S. don’t drive down wages or put Americans out of work, the other telling agencies to buy more domestically produced goods. It so happens that government policy in both areas could stand some improvement, but the basic idea guiding Trump’s approach is dangerously wrong: Economic interaction with the rest of the world isn’t bad for America; it’s good.