Penn Traffic announced that it is closing P&C grocery stores in Syracuse, Fulton, Auburn, Watertown, Macedon and elsewhere. When the stores close their doors in February, 60 employees will lose their jobs at the Auburn location, 47 employees will lose their job at the Fulton location, and 57 employees will lose their jobs at the Syracuse location.

The company is hopeful that re-investing in the company's core stores will improve long-term financial stability, but the closings are obviously devastating to the local economy.

The dwindling Auburn Towne Plaza is in desperate need of a facelift. And the last thing we need in Auburn is another vacant building.

Mayor Michael Quill has said that he will be working with the Department of Planning and Economic Development at both the city and county levels to devise options to offset the closure, but I think this crisis is out of the mayor's hands and far bigger than local government.

In fact, many people blame unfair competition and the Bush Administration for the present economy.

It's no secret that some stores undercut the competition by sourcing goods from Third World countries where labor standards are severely lacking. Local suppliers are then forced to meet unrealistic prices and quotas to compete.

And apart from the astronomical gas prices, the Bush Administration has been heavily criticized for taking money from Medicaid and college assistance programs, increasing taxes for the working class and ultimately sending the nation into recession and depression.

But don't be too quick to scapegoat. Labor will always go where labor is cheap. To maintain our standard of living in today's economy, a world with millions of new competitors, we need to invest in high-wage, high-skilled jobs that in turn create a lot of other jobs.

So don't be surprised when more and more factories and stores close in the next few months.

Bottom line: it doesn't matter who the president is or what business is outshining the competition. The current economic crisis was inevitable. Globalization is upon us and our days as the world's super-power are fading fast.

Perhaps Auburn, like the nation, needs more skilled labor jobs, and we need them now.

Estabrook's column appears Mondays and she can be reached at estabrookcarole@yahoo.com