Why We Have Nothing to Fear from Foreign Outsourcing

Free Trade Bulletin, Center for Trade Policy Studies, CATO Institute ^ | March 30, 2004 | Daniel T. Griswold

[CSM]

"I'm not talking call-center jobs either. I'm talking white collar, upper-middle class positions that require a Master's Degree at least, and possibly a doctorate."

You do know it is possible to work in another field with most degrees, don't you? Once someone has been in the real world for a few years they are usually adaptable for any kind of work. I know many people with education degrees and CJ degrees that are working in sales, engineering, purchasing, etc. It usually comes down to people not being willing to change fields.

"Corporations demand loyalty and 60 hours or more per week, and yet corporations are awfully quick to bolt if they think they can get some guy overseas for 700 bucks a month. Whether the quality is there or NOT."

And during the boom of IT, the IT professional was more than willing to leave the company at the drop of a hat and move on. I know many who left companies and received huge raises and big signing bonuses. Now, you are expecting the same companies they showed no loyalty to to be loyal to them?


"Out-sourcing is hurting us and anyone who says it isn't is living in a dream-world. ( Or worse. I try to think the best of people)"

Are you willing to forego the income our corporations gain by exporting products and services to protect the US labor market from imported products and services?

"Some people here are awfully smug and think it CAN'T happen to THEM..."

Nah, not really. We just realize that we will have to find other ways to make a living and we are confident that we can survive without the aid of the government.

[cyborg]

yep!

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I am still pissed off that the buggy whip business was destroyed by the automobile. Those were good jobs. They should never have been displaced.

So what replaced the computer? Was it the hamburger flipper?

[CSM]

Did I accidentally sign onto DU? The class envy couldn't be more evident in your post.

[TXBSAFH]

You hit the nail on the head.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

So what replaced the computer? Was it the hamburger flipper?

You didn't read the article, did you? WELL DID YOU?

The crash in IT jobs was a direct result of the dot-bomb scams of the late 1990s, where companies would acquire some venture capital, hire a bunch of people, issue an IPO and cash out filthy rich before the company had ever generated one penny of profit. When all the houses of cards crumbled, tens of thousands of IT workers lost their jobs.

We have been paying for these scams ever since.

The IT industry has finally reached the point where sustainable employment levels are going to rise.

IT has ALWAYS been cyclical. There is nothing new here except to people short on years or attention spans.

[Ronzo]

Why We Have Nothing to Fear from Foreign Outsourcing

Other than a loss of QUALITY jobs;
a further errosion of the middel-class;
putting technlogy in the hands of those who may, one day, use it against us;
and watching highly skilled engineers and technical people now working as greeters at Wal-Mart and selling vinyl siding...

Nope, nothing to fear at all...

[CSM]

Watch out for acorns! Did you read the article?

Would you forego the income realized from our companies exporting products and services, in the interest of protecting US labor from imported products and services?

[SamAdams76]

We can yap all we want about the "good ole days" when quality products were made in the good ole USA and we can pine for the Norman Rockwell days when you could walk down Main Street and spend your entire day shopping at a bunch of mom-and-pop stores instead of driving to the local Wal-Mart and getting all your household goods inside of an hour.

But the fact is that we (the consumer) voted with our pocketbooks long ago. We decided to sacrifice quality in order to obtain lower prices. This is why cheap $179 Char-broil grills (that only last a couple of years) outsell $400 Weber grills (that last forever) by more than a 10-1 margin. We opted for one-stop shopping convenience over the old method of having to visit multiple stores. This is why superchains like Wal-Mart and Home Depot have prospered while the "down-the-street" mom-and-pops have mostly dried up and blown away.

It is not the government's fault. It is not Wal-Mart's fault. Nor is it the fault of slave labor in China. It is the fault (if you want to call it "fault") of the consumer. Wal-Mart wouldn't thrive if the consumers didn't flock there. American companies wouldn't have sent their manufacturing to China if their customers stayed loyal to them when Japan started shipping all those cheap TVs and radios. It is we, the consumer, who have made things what they are today.

I am not here to say whether that is wrong or not. I am just here to point these facts out.

Consumers want to pay a lower price and many of them (even those who could afford better) are willing to sacrifice quality in order to obtain those lower prices. There is no way for American companies to survive this unless they adapt to the business methods of their foreign competitors.

[Mears]

Sarcasm not needed. Of course they shouldn't be arrested.

My kids,who are in their child rearing years,go to stores like that all the time.They want bargains and they buy large quantities

You brought up searching for bargains in a previous post and I thought I was the wrong one to address that issue to,that's all.

I despise,and have always despised,shopping. Get me in,get me out,and if it costs me a little more,so be it.

[Mears]

Both of my daughters(early forties) have been hit,and both have MBA's.

This subject really hits home for me.

[clamper1797]

I never go to Big Box stores or the Walmart type stores,ever.

I DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU DO ... I buy from the local shops and not Great Wall-Mart etc when ever possible. It's worth spending that extra few cents to support my neighbors and fellow Americans ... and you know what ... those fews cents always seem to come back to me many times over ... some people just don't get it.

[Mears]

Right in the little business area near me we have a bookstore,gift shop,hardware store,optician, women's shoe store, perfume and make up store,and a bakery.I use them all the time.There is even a locally owned bank.

Sure,there are some chains there,Starbuck's and CVS,but those little establishments get as much business that I can give to them.

[Cronos]

You aren't telling me that these call center jobs that are being outsourced couldn't find anyone here in the USA that have the correct skills.

err, yeah. Call centres have a huge turn over because some tech skills are required and yet costs have to be low (or else Joe public won't pay for the service). Unless we have large numbers of folks wishing for quality over quantity, we'll have more foreign goods over here.