[A. Pole]

Beginning in 2002, the United States began running trade deficits in advanced technology products with Asia, Mexico and Ireland.

Outsourcing bump!

[KC_Conspirator]

I never hear the word "quality" mentioned when people make a case for outsourcing.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Outsourcing Hyperbole: A Greater Threat Than Terrorism

[sgtbono2002]

I dpnt know much about trade deficits, or profits for companies or financial dealings. I do know a lot of our jobs are being sent to China. Now we see China starting trouble in the Taiwan straits, wanting to buy weapons from the EU, Buying oil all over the world, raisng the price of that oil, becoming more belligerent every day and now seeking to go to the moon , and who's mponey are they using to do all this. Thats right folks, the money Americans are spoending on Chinese good and the money thats been outsourced to them. I see Idian buying F-16's and Submarines, More of our money. Now I dont mind seeing the living conditions in these countries improving because of our outsourced jobs, but I do have a little bit of a problem with them using our money and jobs to strengthen their militarys'and possibly to become a threat to peace.

[ex-Texan]

U.S. corporations are selling American workers down the drain in the quest for short-term profits. This is long-term corporate idiocy. Such policies are put into place by MBA graduates who are more focused on 'golden parachute' than sensible policy. Most will take the money and run -- to company after company. These corporate personalities sabotage company after company as they jump sinking ships repeatedly like rats.

Read more about the coming financial crisis and how Americans are chained to debt ?

[KC_for_Freedom]

"The Department of Labor reports that more than one in three workers who are displaced remains unemployed, and many of those who are lucky enough to find jobs take major pay cuts. Many former manufacturing workers who were displaced a decade ago because of manufacturing that went offshore took training courses and found jobs in the information technology sector. They are now facing the unenviable situation of having their second career disappear overseas."

This is the key idea. What the authors don't say is that enough Americans benefit from the lower cost of the service that the net benefit to the nation may be positive. This does not make being laid off easier to take, but does make it easier to understand.

In short, if you have a job that some one else can do for less money, you had better hope that the customer who is paying you does not find out about the other guy. If he does, he presumably will switch unless you offer better service, better language skills, more attention or something. It is hard for me to imagine a person who wants a building designed to seek an architect in India to do the work. (Maybe an Indian who has moved here?) But if it were to happen, I suspect the US architect could find ways of competing. What I can imagine is that someone who needs a bunch of "fill in detail" on a design going to an Indian firm for the routine work. So the message to take from this if you are in architect school is: prepare well, be better than your contempories overseas, and stay up with the technology. If you can look at your job and honestly say that a technition can do this work, you are in danger.

The question of protectionism is real, the other alternative is to tell managers that they can look for cost reduction and profit margin only in certain places. This does not seem to make sense when at the same time we want bar owners to be able to decide whether to allow smoking or not. Either we are free or we are managed by our govenrment. Which will it be? Of course if the US school system still turned out the best product in the world we would not even be discussing this.

[brownsfan]

Offshore outsourcing is bad for America, anyone can see that if they examine:

1 - It's bad for national security. How can you defend yourself in wartime, if you don't MAKE many of the things your military requires.

2 - It's bad for the economy. Unemployed workers remain unemployed for emotional and physical reasons. Unemployed workers do not buy goods, or pay taxes.

3 - It's bad for the government. Businesses are a traditional source of tax revenue. If your physical plant is in India. Unemployed workers do not pay taxes!

4 - It costs us our future. Kids in college are smart. They look and see that technical and engineering jobs are easily oursourced. So they gravitate to what seems to be more stable. Service type careers, sales and marketing. If our country is outsourcing most of it's technical type work and a conflict arises, we can and most likely will, lose access to this "hired help".

Nationalism in America is dying, and the liberals continue to hasten nationalism's death. Without nationalism, corporate leaders don't care about their workers, or their community. Only one thing matters: "how much money did you make this quarter?"
Since our politicians are bought and paid for by lobbists. And there is a lobby for outsourcing, but very little against, there is no help coming from our legislators.
There is only one hope. People wake up and pay attention. Vote for anti-offshore outsourcing candidates. Buy from domestic producers.
If people continue to behave like our politicians and corporate leaders, worrying only about what benefits them today. We are doomed to becoming an also ran, not a super power. Think it can't happen?
Gee, who would have ever thought England would be where it is today?
What of Spain, or Rome if you want to go way back.

[Realism]

U.S. corporations justify their offshore operations as essential to gaining a foothold in emerging Asian markets.

We're going to make it there, then we're going to sell it there. Ok, obviously this will lead to higher corporate profits. I'd like to know exactly how this translates into higher paying American employment opportunities?

[swampfox98]

Only fools will continue clinging to the premise that outsourcing is good for America.

In my rust belt city, a large insurance building stands with only a skeleton crew. All the jobs have been outsourced to India, destroying lives and careers of American citizens. Women who were employed with no over source of income were suddenly pushed out, so were the men.

The company hired a few back, at much lower wages and health care benefits.

Oh yes, outsourcing has really been a blessing for my rust belt city. Not!

[highimpact]

These are not only call-center, customer service and back-office jobs, but also information technology, accounting, architecture, advanced engineering design, news reporting, stock analysis, and medical and legal services. The authors note that these are the jobs of the American Dream, the jobs of upward mobility that generate the bulk of the tax revenues that fund our education, health, infrastructure and social security systems.

What a bunch of liberal garbage. Nobody is entitled to a job. They tried that in the old Soviet Union. You don't own "your" job. Your employer owns your job. You don't have a right to work. You establish value in the free marketplace through experience and education, and then you sell your skills to the highest bidder.

The authors have twisted the meaning of the "American Dream" to suit their socialist agenda. Nobody can stop you from living the American Dream, as long as you have the desire and tenacity to go into business FOR YOURSELF. If you have a skill, a product, or a service that's in demand, then you don't need anybody to give you a job. Start your own company, and then you can decide if you want to outsource your own labor costs.

[The Duke]

2-3 years ago I was one of these threatened technicians, so I decided to try to get ahead of the curve and start my own offshore outsourcing company. And, I must say the results have been very positive.

What the article fails to mention is that US business people may have an advantage over the Chinese and Indians. That advantage is that our offshore operations are not specific to any single nation, that we're still headquartered in the US (and hence much more accountable), and that we can inculcate a more traditional US work ethic in offshore labor.

The article also fails to mention that, now that solutions are available at a lower cost, business can afford to implement MORE SOLUTIONS. This should have somewhat of a counterbalancing effect that is not mentioned in the article.

BTW, my own offshore operations are concentrated in Latin America, where I've found some terriffic skills with a more westernized mindest (and good English speaking skills). Also, this solves an otherwise terrible problem with time zones. I'm not afraid of the Indians or Chinese.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Welcome to the Davos World!

"[T]he United States is giving away its technology, which is rapidly being captured, while U.S. firms reduce themselves to a brand name with a sales force."

New Democrat Third Way progressives and their Davos comrades call it "raising everyone's boat." It's rules-based "free trade" and they make the rules.

Their useful idiots, "free trade" mainline Republicans, call it record corporate profits.

I call it a Marxist revolution from the top down.

Got rope?

[em2vn]

"The ITAA spun the results of the study by releasing only the executive summary to reporters who agreed not to seek outside opinion prior to writing their stories."
Tell me it isn't so. Reporters notlooking into the facts of a story before producing an article. It can't be so. The fifth column wouldn't do that, or is it the forth estate. Maybe they are one in the same.

[TheForceOfOne]

When did we lose faith in capitalism and the free market?

Manufacturing jobs if not shipped overseas to penny wage workers would disappear anyway do to advances in technology.

If you spend all your time looking behind you, it makes it hard to see what is ahead you.

[FrankR]

IMHO, "Outsourcing" is the way to bring Krueshev's (sp?) claim to reality, when he said the Communists would take down the U.S. "without firing a shot".

Political correctness and global ass-kissing will take us down as sure as an atom bomb.

[oceanview]

He has been writing some excellent articles on this topic.

I have already noted that IT and EE technology jobs are dead here in the US - its just a matter of time. And its a forward looking comment, because no one is entering the field now except foreign nationals. The college bound children of US tech worker parents are being steered away from the field because their parents who work for these US companies (or should i say, STILL work) see what is going on - and they aren't sending their kids into the field. I don't have a single co-worker or friend from college sending their own children to school for engineering - not a single one. They are piling them into law schools or for degrees in finance or business. If not for matriculation of foreign nationals, US IT/CS/EE engineering programs would be imploding right now because of low enrollment.

The era of tech being dominated by a US workforce is over. It will be staffed by engineers working in their home countries, with what US positions that remain being staffed by foreign nationals with visas. That is where the current trends are taking us.

The free traders better figure out what "new industries" are going to be created in the US, once the dynamic engine of the technology industry and its job creation is gone.

[JoeGar]

No-think economists assume that new, better jobs are on the way for displaced Americans, but no economists can identify these jobs.

Hmmmmm, no mention of insourcing. Honda, Toyota, BMW, etc., seem to like outsourcing jobs to the USA. Even GM is having Honda make its Saturn SUV engines in Ohio.

[Nowhere Man]

First the solution.

In no particular order of importance.

1. Get rid of government subsidies for offshore investment of US companies. OPIC is the first such program which should go but support of World Bank programs that subsidize the outflow of Capital would be another.

2. Use tariffs on those nations which are engaged in unfair trade practices such as currency manipulation (China and India for example), those nations which refuse to open their markets to US products (China for example with its 50% tariffs on US consumer goods and non tariff barriers), those nations that subsidize competition to American Industry (airbus for example) and those nations which have slave conditions for their workers.

3. Use tariffs and other means to prevent the relocation of jobs offshore that are essential to the national defense. If necessary take control of the company seeking to export vital technology or industry by means of eminent domain (No I do not like this last option and I will only defend its use as an absolute last resort like say in the case of rare earth magnets essential to smart bomb technology).

4. An immediate end to guest worker programs. If people wish to come to the USA to work and make a life let them immigrate according to the rules.

5 Provide economic development zones where the corporate income tax is zero for operations within these zones. In order to operate in this zone a company must agree to only purchase American components if available and employ only American citizens or legal immigrants in these operations. These economic development zones shall be eventually be expanded to include every bit of every state once the benefits are shown I would like them to be totally implemented immediately but I realize4 that may be overreaching.

6. Scale back unnecessary regulation including the tort system. Institute a cap on punitive damages, limits on class action suits, and limits on liability to the actual percentage of liability with no plaintiff able to collect if said plaintiff was involved in the commission of a felony at the time of the alleged tort or was more than 49% negligent in the alleged tort. Note that the loser in a frivolous lawsuit shall pay the attorney fees of the winner. There are many other regulatory structures that also need to be included that need to be included such as repealing the Family leave mandate, getting rid of OSHA etc.

7. Increase the domestic content in purchases by the Department of defense and give absolute preference in non-domestic content to proven allies of the USA over say the French or Germans. The only reason any content for DOD purchase may come from non US allies is that content is not available elsewhere and is essential.

8. Do not allow expense involved in moving operations overseas to be included in business expenses under the IRS code.

9. Prosecute for perjury anyone who has made a false statement in order to employ an H1B or L1 visa worker. I will be lenient on the actual perjurer if he/she was ordered to make this false statement and he/she provides testimony to aid in the conviction of the person ordering the perjury. Just because a person is a CEO does not give them a pass on criminal behavior.

10. Prosecute anyone who orders the transfer of vital defense technology or funds a R&D project that could be of use to our military overseas except to strong allies of the USA. Make the necessary enhancements to our espionage laws so that continued support or funding of any R&D in a nation whose government has threatened the USA is guilty of espionage. The UK and Australia come to mind as meeting these criteria for being eligible for transfer of technology first. There will be other nations and a gradation of what can be transferred to which specific nation. Under no circumstances may technology be transferred to any nation whose government has threatened the USA within five years without a complete change of government or specific exemption from Congress and the administration.

11. Deport all illegal aliens immediately and take measures that prevent the entry of any more illegal aliens. Fine all companies knowingly employing illegal aliens Criminal sanctions should be imposed on anyone helping an illegal alien stay in the USA in violation of our laws.

12. Decrease the punishing levels of taxation on companies and eliminate the double taxation on corporate dividends. See effects of item 5 for how minimal this will be if item 5 covers the entire USA. Eliminate all IRS provisions that inhibit free use of independent contractors by businesses for example section 1706.

13. Eliminate the minimum wage so that the worker can be paid based on productivity. Overtime compensation will remain the same but instead of 150% of the "wage" the worker would receive 150% of the production pay. If one through 13 are enacted # 14 becomes an irrelevancy as no one will be working for that low a wage.

We have a modification to the plan in item 3. Before including any further modifications in this plan I am getting the approval of many who have signed on and RDB3 was instumental in hammering out this plan with me. We each came from different perspectives of how to solve teh problem and tried to come up with something we could build a consensus arround.

The Change is in item point 3 and has to do with our national defense.

3. Use tariffs and other means to prevent the relocation of jobs offshore that are essential to the national defense. If necessary take control of the company seeking to export vital technology or industry by means of eminent domain (No I do not like this last option and I will only defend its use as an absolute last resort like say in the case of rare earth magnets essential to smart bomb technology). Provide a hardened, widely distributed infrastructure to supply all that is needed for our military units and civil defense that can be continued to be deployed in the event of any military attack.

This is already on my profile and will be included in all future posts of this plan.

Well, I decided to post Harpseal's (RIP) idea on the economy and I even pinged him put of respect.

[Clintonfatigued]

Corporate executives who outsource jobs are more unpatriotic than flag-burners.

[tm22721]

USA is already doomed by decades of overconsumption and dollar debasement. Our affluence is a mirage.

As soon as the yuan and yen are floated (dollar collapsing to its real value) the outsourcing problem will immediately be replaced by high inflation, high interest rates and a lower standard of living.

The the sheeple will have a whole new set of complaints.

BUMP