Seattle must wake up to global competition

We were a panel of experts and pundits assembled
to provide some insights into, or at least plausible guesses at, economic trends of 2014. One of the questions on our agenda: What world economies are affecting the Northwest the most?

China was the obvious choice for several panelists. One mentioned Mexico, noting that the stories about drug lords and narco Wars obscured the rise of a sizable middle class.

Your columnist opted for a thematic nomination: the Axis of Evil, made up of Russia, Iran and North Korea, along with junior members/wannabes Syria and Venezuela. These are all worthy selections in terms of countries to watch in 2014, and they have already generated copious amounts of news this year, little of it good.

But the answer might have been different had the question been slightly tweaked to ask, What countries are likely to claim the regions focus in 2014?
The answer to that query would be much easier to provide: None of them.

The rest of the world has been overly productive of news in the first third of this year, much of it with huge geopolitical, military and economic implications. Little of it has resulted in much attention in a region that seems to be taking an extended break from an interest in international affairs.

This seems an odd attitude for a place that hosts multiple international seaports and a globally connected airport, has an international land border less than three hours drive north of its major metropolis and whose very interstate tunnel abutments are emblazoned with the words Portal to the Pacific. Its a sharp contrast to the days when the world was expected to pay notice to Seattle and did as a center of global commerce, a home to globally significant companies.

Here comes the to be sure paragraph. Seattle and the Northwest still have those ports, local companies still do business around the world, local products still are sold all over the planet, trade missions still jet off to other countries seeking more business for the region. And yet the regions interest in and attention to global affairs not just business and trade matters seems muted from recent decades.

Boeing still produces airplanes decorated in the livery of airlines that fly routes on other continents, and it competes with airframe manufacturers, existing and emerging, all over the globe. But when the discussion turns to Boeing locally, it involves such exotic locations as Chicago and South Carolina. Microsoft does business around the world, but its most pressing competitive challenges come from domestic companies like Apple and Google. Amazon is a hugely disruptive force and international sales are a big component of revenue, but the percentage actually declined from 2012 to 2013.

Whats at work here? Its partly a reflection of national political attitudes, as embodied by the current administrations lack of interest in all those messy and complex antagonisms beyond our shores (or even as close to home as Canada).

In addition, the biggest economic stories in this country of late have been domestic ones. Grouse all you want about China, but no one from outside the United States created the housing finance mess and resulting recession. That was an inside-the-borders job. The boom in domestic production of oil and gas is, as the name implies, homegrown and hugely influential for the U.S. economy, although there are international aspects to it.

Theres also a local aspect to it. Seattle tried to elbow its way onto the world economic stage by hosting of the World Trade Organization in 1999; to the extent the rest of the world mentions Seattle in that context, its as a pejorative. And so Seattle and the rest of the world go about their business, ignoring one another. The world can continue doing so one Seattle more or less wont make much difference when the globe is full of contenders. Seattle, however, may find its insularity isnt a viable strategy, unless, of course, getting and staying off the beaten path of global commerce is the goal.

Regular contributor Bill Virgin is the founder and owner of Northwest Newsletter Group, which publishes Washington Manufacturing Alert and Pacific Northwest Rail News.