Posted on 02/09/2004 7:12:02 PM PST by ETERNAL WARMING
Report: Exporting Jobs Overseas Will Help U.S
WASHINGTON — The movement of American factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said today.
The embrace of foreign "outsourcing," an accelerating trend that has contributed to U.S. job losses in recent years and has become an issue in the 2004 elections, is contained in the president's annual report to Congress on the health of the U.S. economy.
"Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade," said Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors, which prepared the report. "More things are tradable than were tradable in the past. And that's a good thing."
The report, which predicts that the nation will reverse a three-year employment slide by creating 2.6 million jobs in 2004, is part of a weeklong effort by the administration to highlight signs that the recovery is picking up speed. Bush's economic stewardship has become a central issue in the presidential campaign, and the White House is eager to demonstrate that his policies are producing positive results.
In his message to Congress, Bush said the economy "was strong and getting stronger," thanks in part to the administration's tax cuts and other economic policies. He said the nation had survived a stock market meltdown, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and a global economic slump, and was finally beginning to enjoy "a mounting prosperity that will reach every corner of America."
The president repeated that message during a "conversation" on the economy with workers at SRC Automotive in Springfield, Mo., an employee-owned firm that rebuilds car engines. In one of his most fervent appeals yet to make his tax cuts permanent, he said congressional opponents are seeking to impose a broad new tax hike. "Make no mistake about it," he said.
The president's 411-page report contains a detailed diagnosis of the forces contributing to the economic slowdown that began about the time Bush occupied the White House, and a wide-ranging defense of the policies he has pursued to combat it.
It asserts that the last recession actually began in late 2000, before Bush took office, instead of in March, 2001, as certified by the official recession dating panel of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Much of the report repeats the administration's previous economic prescriptions. The Bush tax cuts must be made permanent, it says, to have their full beneficial effect on the economy. Social Security must be restructured to let workers put part of their retirement funds in private accounts, it argues, to address a long-term funding shortfall.
But the report devotes considerable attention to an issue that has become increasingly troublesome for the administration: the loss of 2.8 million manufacturing jobs since Bush took office, and critics' claims that the administration's trade policies are partly to blame.
The report acknowledges that international trade and foreign outsourcing have contributed to the job slump. But it argues that technological progress and rising productivity — the ability to produce more goods with fewer workers — have played a bigger role than trade.
Although trade expansion inevitably hurts some workers, it says, the benefits will eventually outweigh the costs as Americans are able to buy goods and services at lower costs and as jobs are created in growing sectors of the economy.
The report endorses the relatively new phenomenon of outsourcing high-end white-collar work to India and other countries, a trend that has created concern within affected professions such as computer programming and medical diagnostics.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Bush to middle class: Let 'em eat cake.
The report, which predicts that the nation will reverse a three-year employment slide by creating 2.6 million jobs in 2004, is part of a weeklong effort by the administration to highlight signs that the recovery is picking up speed.
Nothing up my sleeve, folks.
Because I am a white male here in the US I suffer from some very serious disadvantages - disadvantages that simply do not exist in other countries. So, why shouldn't I step beyond the bounds of the US to do business?
I've put this reasoning to the test, and I've got to tell you that it's been an absolutely wonderful experience. And as far as those computer programmers in India go, as I said yesterday they need to make sure they keep their Squishy machines in good working order, because I can out-compete them any day of the week!
No it won't. There will be a thriving Indian middle class for the multi-national conglomerates to support.
This statement is insane!
What the *ell is replacing these jobs? Americans still need to work and pay their bills.
This attitude along with the "match any willing foreign worker with a job that American's won't do" crap is why I will not vote for the President again.
This is class warfare, Free traitors against the American middle-class and under the Bush administration, the free traitors are winning.
Ya gotta have the HoHos and Twinkies around for the food stamp set.
Believe it or not, in Minnesota, if you are on welfare, you are now being serviced in regards to your cash card (food stamps, cash etc.) by people in India! And they are preparing another contract with India to have all enrollment needs outsourced!
And here I thought Bush was going to wait until he was safely re-elected before he shipped out every other job that hasn't already been sent packing.
Insanity is right! Aren't we the country that everyone comes to for education? Don't we train these Indians to do our jobs? Aren't we the most prosperous, innovative, powerful nation on earth?
I am so tired of hearing the lies about how Mexicans, Indians etc. are so much smarter and harder working than we are. Why are their countries poop holes then?
Yer just not lookin' at it right...You just have to figure out what the growing sectors are...We all know Wal-Mart is hiring...Who else??? You can certainly find work, or even better, go into business for yourself...Open a new "Dollar Store"...Maybe someone will open a "Super Dollar Store" where we can buy groceries...I kinda like Chinese Food...
Problem is, I don't know if enough people are gullible enough to go for this one...George could be in trouble...
I agree. I am waiting to see any plausible solution to this problem proposed, here or anywhere else.
Personally I *do* believe that all this internationalism is being promoted for the sake of the "good ol' boys", but the "good ol' boys" can fall victim to the Law of Unintended Consequences as readily as any of us. And I predict that I'll benefit more from this than will they.
You should see the engineering and computer science departments at the local universities. You won't hear a word of English spoken between classes anywhere in the nearby area.
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