????“未來(lái)，我們最強(qiáng)勁的增長(zhǎng)預(yù)期將來(lái)自海外市場(chǎng)——而且,，我說(shuō)這話(huà)代表的還是美國(guó)中西部的一家農(nóng)業(yè)公司,，”藍(lán)多湖公司（Land O'Lakes）總裁兼CEO克里斯?波利西斯基說(shuō)道。這家公司的名字讓人聯(lián)想起著名畫(huà)家諾曼?洛克威爾筆下的奶牛和奶油攪拌器,，而不是馬拉維的鄉(xiāng)村集市（其實(shí)后者才是他心里一直惦記的地方）。

????在近期參加美國(guó)全球領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力聯(lián)盟（Global Leadership Coalition）會(huì)議時(shí),，波利西斯基表達(dá)了上述觀點(diǎn),。最近，這一觀點(diǎn)引起了越來(lái)越多的美國(guó)CEO們的反響,。他的話(huà)也直指一個(gè)顯而易見(jiàn)的事實(shí),，只不過(guò)華盛頓那些目光短淺的政治領(lǐng)袖們一直視而不見(jiàn)罷了：那就是美國(guó)公司不再把本土消費(fèi)者視為業(yè)務(wù)增長(zhǎng)的催化劑，轉(zhuǎn)而押寶于海外的新興市場(chǎng),。

????換句話(huà)說(shuō),，美國(guó)就業(yè)市場(chǎng)能否出現(xiàn)增長(zhǎng)，關(guān)鍵在于能否將更多的美國(guó)貨賣(mài)給其他國(guó)家的中產(chǎn)階級(jí),。

????一直以來(lái),，大手大腳的美國(guó)消費(fèi)者都是全球經(jīng)濟(jì)的推動(dòng)者，也是經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮（當(dāng)然也包括經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條）背后的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī),。但從現(xiàn)在起很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間內(nèi),，美國(guó)人得扎緊自己的錢(qián)袋子了。蓋洛普公司（Gallup）報(bào)告稱(chēng),，美國(guó)人均開(kāi)支遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于2008年水平,，這將成為“新的常態(tài)”。2011年7月的一份哈里斯民意調(diào)查（Harris Poll）顯示,，越來(lái)越多的人開(kāi)始縮減開(kāi)支,，項(xiàng)目涉及從電子產(chǎn)品到理發(fā)等各方面,。美國(guó)的個(gè)人儲(chǔ)蓄率也出現(xiàn)上升。由于房貸的首付比例恢復(fù)到20%,，養(yǎng)房子也日益困難,，更不用說(shuō)用信用卡分期購(gòu)買(mǎi)游艇和平板電視了。

????企劃師們?cè)絹?lái)越清楚地意識(shí)到,，他們的潛在客戶(hù)95%將來(lái)自美國(guó)境外,，并且都來(lái)自發(fā)展迅猛的發(fā)展中國(guó)家——比如亞洲和拉丁美洲【世界銀行（the World Bank）預(yù)測(cè)，這兩個(gè)地區(qū)今年的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)率將達(dá)到4.5%】,，以及非洲（該地區(qū)的總?cè)粘ｉ_(kāi)支已經(jīng)超過(guò)了印度）,。

????開(kāi)發(fā)這些市場(chǎng)可以幫助美國(guó)創(chuàng)造必要的工作崗位。為了讓美國(guó)人涉足這些市場(chǎng),，美國(guó)必須簽訂三個(gè)相關(guān)的貿(mào)易協(xié)定,，但這個(gè)問(wèn)題至今也沒(méi)有引起國(guó)會(huì)的重視——這在很大程度上是因?yàn)楣?huì)從中作梗。雖然白宮口頭上高呼要擴(kuò)大出口,，但俄亥俄州共和黨參議員,、前美國(guó)貿(mào)易代表羅布? 波特曼的話(huà)或許直接指明了問(wèn)題的要害。他引用世界銀行的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù),，向《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）闡明了自己的觀點(diǎn)：“說(shuō)起出口在GDP中的比例,，我們與埃塞俄比亞持平，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于其他與我們存在貿(mào)易關(guān)系的發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家,，以及中國(guó)和韓國(guó),，而和那些我們希望通過(guò)韓美自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定擴(kuò)大貿(mào)易的國(guó)家相比，我們也處于下風(fēng),?！?/p>

????當(dāng)然，這種情況一部分是由于歷史和地理原因造成的：美國(guó)消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)巨大,，同時(shí)缺少類(lèi)似歐洲那樣的區(qū)域融合,。加拿大等國(guó)與美國(guó)情況類(lèi)似，但其出口在總體經(jīng)濟(jì)中的比例也遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于美國(guó),。這樣一來(lái)就丟掉了大量的潛在商機(jī),。前美國(guó)貿(mào)易代表、世界銀行現(xiàn)任行長(zhǎng)羅伯特?佐利克表示：“美國(guó)公司在許多地區(qū)都具有強(qiáng)大的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力,。幾乎每到一地,，【當(dāng)?shù)亍咳硕紩?huì)問(wèn)及在基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施項(xiàng)目引入私人資本的渠道，”——醫(yī)療系統(tǒng)即是其中之一,。他舉例說(shuō),，德國(guó)的中小型工程公司就非常擅長(zhǎng)開(kāi)發(fā)這些市場(chǎng)。

????“Our best future growth prospects are overseas -- and I say this as an agriculture company based in the Midwest." So says Chris Policinski, president and CEO of Land O'Lakes, a name that conjures up Norman Rockwell images of milk cows and butter churns, not village markets in Malawi (which is what he has in mind).

????Policinski's declaration, made at a recent meeting of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, echoes what we are hearing from growing numbers of American CEOs these days -- and goes to the heart of a truism that has largely escaped the attention of Washington's myopic political leadership: U.S. companies are giving up on the American consumer as a catalyst for growth, preferring instead to bet on emerging markets overseas.

????In other words, one key for U.S. job growth lays in selling more of our stuff to a non-American middle class.

????The profligate American buyer, long the driver of the global economy and the engine behind booms (and busts), is taking a big break from spending. Gallup reports a "new normal" of everyday spending far below 2008 levels. A July 2011 Harris Poll shows more and more people skimping on everything from electronic goodies to haircuts. Personal savings rates are up. And with down payments on mortgages back at 20% levels, it's hard to afford a home, let alone use it as a credit card to buy boats and flat screen TVs.

????Business strategists increasingly recognize that not only are 95% of their potential consumers living outside U.S. borders, they are living in high-growth developing countries -- places like Asia and Latin America (where the World Bank forecasts 4.5% economic growth this year) and Africa (where total household spending already exceeds that of India).

????Tapping into those markets will help produce needed jobs. But the three trade agreements designed to put an American toe in those kinds of waters continue to languish in Congress -- largely because of spurious union demands. And while the White House gives lip service to expanding exports, it's instructive to listen to Ohio Republican Senator, and former U.S. Trade Representative, Rob Portman, who uses World Bank statistics to offer this observation to Fortune: "We are tied with Ethiopia in terms of our exports as a percentage of GDP, well below any of the other developed countries we trade with and well below China and Korea and countries we hope to trade with more through the Korean trade agreement."

????Certainly part of that is history and geography: America's own massive consumer market, and lack of regional integration (like Europe). But even countries like Canada rank far higher in exports as a percentage of the economy.

????That leaves a lot of potential business on the table. "There are places where American companies can be very, very competitive," says Robert Zoellick, former U.S. trade ambassador and now president of the World Bank. "I can't go anywhere without [local] people asking how to get private capital into infrastructure projects" -- like health care systems. Germany's small and medium sized engineering firms are adept at tapping those markets, he notes as an example.