Members of the Athens community, young and old, discussed the international economic problems facing the U.S. Monday at the Athena Cinema during a Q&A with filmmaker and author Peter Navarro.
The town hall-style meeting followed a screening of Navarro’s film, Death By China, a take on the economic trade relationship between China and the U.S and the resulting job loss.
Navarro came to Ohio University as part of a series of these kinds of screenings and discussions around Ohio.
“We like to have a very large range of films,” said Alexandra Kamody, managing director of the Athena. “Part of it is being part of the college and wanting to involve all areas of the college. We try to bring films on many different issues that bring different opinions and create a forum for those opinions.”
The documentary, narrated by Martin Sheen, ran through the “tools of destruction” the government of China was using in order to take advantage of the U.S. government and used animation and interviews to illustrate the economic points.
Navarro, a business professor at University of Cincinnati Irvine, teaches macroeconomics and eventually observed trends that led him to write the book by the same name as the film.
“I noticed through teaching the economy an exodus of our manufacturing jobs,” Navarro said. “It’s an epidemic in this state.”
The Q&A portion allowed audience members to ask Navarro questions and tell their stories. Marietta resident Jon Schneider said he enjoyed the documentary.
“I thought that the movie hit every point I wanted it to,” Schneider said. “I think it did it in a concise way and in a way that people could understand.”
Schneider, a now self-employed engineer, told his story of how a plant he worked on that produced magnets for cars was supposed to be partnering with a Chinese company, but ended up being shut down due to international competition.
Patricia Weitsman, a political science professor at OU, did not attend the screening, but said the concept is one that was much-discussed in international economics.
“The argument is not a new one,” Weitsman said. “We heard the same thing about Japan in the early ’90s. I think many economists would argue that this trade relationship is not zero sum and indeed most trade relationships aren’t. Demonizing China doesn’t advance our interests.”
Weitsman said she encourages people to also take into account command structures and alliance partnerships and to look into the OU war and peace studies major and certificate for more information.
