MIDLAND—Daniel T. Griswold, coauthor of a recent Mackinac Center for Public Policy study on outsourcing jobs to foreign companies, will debate Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s "Future Forum" in Ann Arbor.

The difference in their views is likely to be sharp. Gaffney has attacked the North American Free Trade Agreement as a source of job loss and economic problems, particularly in Michigan. In contrast, Griswold, in a recent Mackinac Center Policy Brief coauthored with Mackinac Center Adjunct Scholar Dale D. Buss, concludes that outsourcing provides a net economic benefit to Michigan and its taxpayers; that job losses from outsourcing are a small portion of the U.S. employment market; and that outsourcing creates more jobs than it destroys.

Griswold will also be the featured speaker at a Sept. 16 Mackinac Center luncheon in Lansing. The event, part of the Center’s "Issues & Ideas" series, will begin at 12:00 p.m. in the Mackinac Room of the House Office Building and be recorded for rebroadcast by Michigan Government Television. Griswold, in addition to his association with the Mackinac Center, is director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.