Posted on 03/17/2004 6:48:09 PM PST by MannyP
Powell Reassures India on Technology Jobs By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: March 17, 2004
EW DELHI, March 16 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, encountering the other side of a tempestuous debate in the United States, sought to assure Indians on Tuesday that the Bush administration would not try to halt the outsourcing of high-technology jobs to their country.
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In discussions with Indian leaders and college students, Mr. Powell found that the issue of the transfer of American jobs to India by leading technology companies was as emotional in India as in the United States.
But whereas American politicians have deplored the loss of such jobs, it was clear that the anxiety in India focuses on threats by some members of Congress to try to stop the transfer by legislation.
Responding to a questioner in a session with students who asked if he supported or opposed outsourcing, Mr. Powell said: "Outsourcing is a natural effect of the global economic system and the rise of the Internet and broadband communications. You're not going to eliminate outsourcing; but, at the same time, when you outsource jobs it becomes a political issue in anybody's country."
Mr. Powell told the students what he had said to reporters earlier in the day after a meeting with Foreign Minister Yaswant Sinha: an appropriate American response to outsourcing was to press India to open up to imports of American investments, goods and services.
He said one purpose of his trip was to explain to India that because outsourcing had created a political problem in the United States, India could help by lowering its trade barriers. He said he was making that request, not as a condition for the United States allowing outsourcing to continue, but because it was in India's interest to be more open.
In February, Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, stirred a political outcry when he called the outsourcing of jobs a long-term "plus" for the economy. While Mr. Powell said Tuesday that "it is the reality of 21st century economics that these kinds of dislocations will take place," he was quick to add that the Bush administration would work to train people for new jobs.
In Washington, the White House endorsed Mr. Powell's comments.
"The secretary made clear in his remarks that we are concerned when Americans lose jobs, and we are focused on creating jobs for American workers, and the best way to do that is to open markets around the world, including in India," said Claire Buchan, a spokeswoman for the White House.
But David Wade, a spokesman for Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said Mr. Powell's comments demonstrated how the Bush administration has "failed to fight for American workers."
Oh? Their textile industry employs 20,000,000 Indians, and account for one third of India's exports.
Their computer industry has a compound growth rate of 50% during the last five years - and most of the demand for floppy drives, dot matirix printers, keyboards, CRT's and other components is from indigenous production.
Their software industry is working on AI and fifth generation systems.
India is a major exporter of heavy and light engineering goods. They also make their own construction equipment.
Don't believe it? Here's a link to their embassy.
This is an economy that you claim has no jobs to outsource? They claim they do.
And if we're to believe Wildman Mankiw, all they must do to become rich is to export those jobs. Hey, if it's good for us, surely it would be good for them!
We provide them the remedial jobs.
Umm-hmm. Like leading edge computer research. Sure, sounds remedial to me. (/sarcasm)
They then make money and BUY our products.
In January, 2004 we exported $342.3 million USD worth of products to India.
We imported $1,180.0 million USD worth of products from India.
This means we have a trade deficit for a single month of $837.7 million USD. This is part of a growing deficit that goes on month by month over years.
Source: Census bureau.
I believe this comes under the general category "helluva deal".
Get this...we give them a buy ecoonomy of our products.
I'll tell you what. You give me your money. I'll buy your services one of these days, maybe. Sound like a plan?
We don't want them to be the one's that own the jobs - right? Then they own the innovation...control the future.
America should control the innovation and then control the future! Think this over folks.
I have a better idea. Let's keep control of both the innovation and the jobs.
There is no way that India will ever overtake us, unless we become isolationists and force them too!!!
Let's see now....a billion smart, hard working people. Lots of rigorous education. And they control the jobs, and thus the revenue and economic power implied thereby. They are overtaking us now, today - and if we don't protect ourselves, they will compete with China to become the world's preeminent power. The US will, then, become a second-rate has-been.
Think this over carefully, for it is the destiny you are choosing.
Hint: The US dollar is in decline. Our foreign and domestic debt are accelerating. And inflation - as measured by the the spot prices of commodities over the past year - may be rekindling. Unless the goal is to transform the US into a mere third-world plantation state, think very carefully about the path we are walking.
I nominate this for quote of the month! Well said!
Look, Indians suck at actual computer design work. They are good coders but stink at being able to solve solutions long-term. For example, if the spec calls for an account code to be an "asset" then they will ask "how can I tell what is an asset?" The client says "it is account codes between 10000-11000" and the Indian codes "IF ACCOUNT BETWEEN 10000-11000 then..."
Americans, OTOH, ask "will this be true forever? What if "11001" is used by some future CIO? Then we follow with "let's tag the account as a type, then check for the type." This solution does not occur to the Indians (or Chinese)
I am already seeing clients who have been burned by this mentality and who won't even let us put a coder in project who has an Indian accent. Mark my words, in 5 years or less, Indian Offshoring will be considered the worst thing that ever happened to software design and coding. The smarter companies are seeing this right now.
Plundering the American Middle Class is profitable.
There is a real, measurable and significant difference. Part of the cultural aspect is what I described to you -- they generally accept "from above" as sacred writ. Americans don't. This is what I see all the time. And it is a problem. I just spent many hours re-designing a system I gave to an Indian to design -- he hard-coded all over the place and I had to redesign the whole damn thing.
Trust me, Dobbs is wrong. And Corporate America is waking up to that fact.
Nothing against them, God loves them, but that has nothing to do with their ineffectiveness.
One of these days traitors like you will get it - piss off patriotic Americans long enough and you will pay the price. All the money in the world won't save people like you then.
Maybe the future is not so bleak. Radical free trade/privatization (R&D was taxpayer funded)/asset sell-out policy is the one tried earlier in Russia under name of "shock therapy". It did lead to the lower standard of living (including much shorter life expectancy) for the general population and enrichment of the few reform minded oligarchs (super-thiefs).
The process of free market looting ended in a 1998 crisis when the financial system collapsed. It lead to the correction. Economical correction was done by free market itself when the devalued currency made it too expensive to buy imported goods. Political correction was stimulated by the NATO attack on Yugoslavia (NATO was emboldened by perceived Russian weakness) and by Islamofascist invasion of Dagestan combined with terrorist attacks all over Russia.
Now Russia is in relatively good shape and going forward. There is not reason why America which is much stronger would not come of analogical crisis regenerated.
Declining currency, growing discontent of the population and greater willingness to prosecute reform minded oligarchs are the early signs of coming correction. Who will be the American Putin is the question.
"What does not destroy me, makes me stronger."
(Nietzsche Twilight Of The Idols - 8)
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