Posted on 02/15/2005 6:44:11 AM PST by dennisw
"The Great American Job Sellout By Paul Craig Roberts
Americans are being sold out on the jobs front. Americans' employment opportunities are declining as a result of corporate outsourcing of US jobs, H-1B visas that import foreigners to displace Americans in their own country, and federal guest worker programs
President Bush and his Republican majority intend to legalize the aliens who hold down wages for construction companies and cleaning services. In order to stretch budgets, state and local governments bring in lower paid foreign nurses and school teachers. To reduce costs, US corporations outsource jobs abroad and use work visa programs to import foreign engineers and programmers. The American job give away is explained by a "shortage" of Americans to take the jobs.
There are not too many Americans willing to accept the pay and working conditions of migrant farm workers. However, the US is bursting at the seams with unemployed computer engineers and well-educated professionals who are displaced by outsourcing and H-1B visas. During Bush's entire first term, there was a net loss of American private sector jobs. Today there are 760,000 fewer private sector jobs in the US economy than when Bush was first inaugurated in January 2001.
For years the hallmark of the European economy was its inability to create any jobs other than government jobs. America has caught up with Europe. During Bush's first term, state and local government created 879,000 new government jobs. Offsetting these government jobs against the net loss in private sector jobs gives Bush a four-year jobs growth of 119,000 government jobs. Comparing this pathetic result to normal performance produces a shortage of 8 million US jobs. What happened to these jobs?
Over these same four years the composition of US jobs has changed from higher-paid manufacturing and information technology jobs to lower-paid domestic services. Why?
During this extraordinary breakdown in the American employment machine, politicians, government officials, corporate spokespersons, and "free trade" economists gave assurances that America was benefitting greatly from the work visa programs and outsourcing.
The mindless chatter continues. Just the other day Ambassador David Gross, US Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy in the State Department, declared outsourcing to be an economic efficiency that works to America's benefit. There is no sign of this alleged benefit in US jobs statistics or the US balance of trade.
Repeatedly and incorrectly, US corporations state that outsourcing creates more US jobs. They even convinced a New York Times columnist that this was the case.
The problem is, no one can identify where the US jobs are that outsourcing allegedly creates. They are certainly not to be found in the BLS jobs statistics. However, the Indian and Chinese jobs created by US outsourcing are highly visible.
On February 13, the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News reported that jobs outsourcing is transforming Indian "cities like Bangalore from sleepy little backwaters into the New York Cities of Asia." In a very short period outsourcing has helped to raise India from one of the world's poorest countries to its seventh largest economy.
Outsourcing proponents claim that US job loss is being exaggerated, that outsourcing is really just a small thing involving a few call centers. If that is the case, how is it transforming sleepy Indian cities into "the New York Cities of Asia"? If outsourcing is no big deal, why are Bangalore hotel rooms "packed with foreigners paying rates higher than in Tokyo or London," as the Dayton Daily News reports?
If outsourcing is of no real consequence, why are American lawyers or their clients paying $2,900 in fees plus hotel and travel expenses and two days' billings to attend the Fourth National Conference on Outsourcing in Financial Services in Washington DC (April 20-21)?
On the jobs front, as on the war front, the social security front and every other front, Americans are not being given the truth. Americans' news comes from people allied with the Bush administration or dependent on revenues from corporate advertisers. Displease the government or advertisers and your media empire is in trouble. The news most Americans get is filtered. It is the permitted news. Many "free trade" advocates also are dependent on the corporate money that funds their salaries, research and think tanks.
Another clear indication that outsourcing of US jobs is no small thing comes from the reported earnings of the leading Indian corporations that provide American firms with outsourced IT employees and engineers. During the recent quarter, Infosys' revenues increased by 53%, TCS grew by 38%, and Wipro was up 34%.
On January 1, 2001, Cincinnati-based Convergys Corp had one Indian employee. Today it has 10,000. Why? Because it can hire Indian university graduates for $240 a month, a sum that is a small fraction of the US poverty level income.
Many Americans think that an outsourced job is an existing job that is moved offshore. But many outsourced jobs are created offshore in the first place. On February 11, USA Today told the story of OfficeTiger, "the sort of young technology company that once created thousands of high-paying jobs in the USA, fueling sizzling economic growth." The five-year old startup business employs 200 Americans and ten times that number of Indians. The company has plans for hiring many more Indians to perform "tech-heavy financial services."
Under pressure from venture capitalists who fund new companies, American startup firms are starting up abroad. Thus, the new ventures, which "free trade" economists assured us would create new jobs to take the place of the ones moved offshore by mature firms, are in fact creating jobs for foreigners.
As a consequence, tech jobs in the US are falling as a percentage of the total. Clearly, tax breaks for venture capitalists are self-defeating when the result is to create jobs for foreigners, not for Americans. Why should the American taxpayer subsidize employment in India and China?
These developments have obvious adverse implications for engineering and professional education in America. The BLS jobs forecast for the next ten years says the vast majority of US jobs will not require a college education. University enrollments will decline and so will the production of PhDs as fewer professors are needed.
As India and China rise to first world status, the US falls to third world status where the only jobs are in domestic services.
This has enormous implications for the US balance of payments. Americans' consumption of manufactured goods is heavily dependent on foreign manufacture, whether that of foreign firms or that of US multinational firms that supply their American customers from offshore. How does an economy in which employment growth is concentrated in nontradable domestic services pay for its imports with exports?
Since 1990 the US has been paying for its imports by giving foreigners ownership of its assets. In the last 15 years foreigners have accumulated $3.6 trillion of America's wealth.
America has been able to pay for its consumption by giving up its wealth because the dollar is the world's reserve currency. As America's high-tech and manufacturing capabilities decline and its red ink rises, the dollar's role as reserve currency must end.
When the dollar loses its reserve currency role, America will not be able to pay for the imports on which it has become dependent. Shopping in Wal-Mart will be like shopping at Neiman Marcus.
Until recent years, US companies employed Americans to produce the goods that Americans consumed. Employment supported sales, and sales supported employment. No more. By their shortsighted policy of moving US jobs abroad, our corporations are destroying their American markets.
Economists give assurances that the dollar's decline and fall will bring jobs and industry back to the US. Once Americans are as poor as Indians and Chinese are today, the process will reverse. Multinational corporations will locate in America to take advantage of cheap labor and unserved markets. By becoming poor, the US can become rich again.
You might want to ask the economists and our "leaders" in Washington why we should put ourselves and our descendants through such a wrenching process."
--Jerry Leslie Note: les...@jrlvax.houston.rr.com is invalid for email
I think the reality is likely more along the lines that He isn't getting applicants he considers qualified. Right now, there are no jobs in my area available here because they've been offshored - given to foreigners to service our industry here (while it's still here anyway). The practical reality is that most do not want to go back into the IT sector now because they have been burnt once already and see the writing on the wall. Others don't longer want anything to do with corporations. The reasons for absence of "qualified" workers are varied and objectively as much the fault of the businesses as that of the market.
When you break supply and demand in the local market, then want to use the damage done as a further excuse for destroying it altogether while playing inoccent.. I can't say that is necessarily the case here; but, I also can't say the mention of having jobs that can't be filled is more than mere rhetoric. People are sitting on unemployment for six months at a time right now because no jobs are available. Doing so when jobs are available is the exception, not the rule. And saying jobs exist when people can't find them doesn't make it so. Bin Ladin punched our economy pretty hard on 9/11. When the economy stood back up, the free traders sucker punched it and have been backslapping it and the commentators every since hoping we'll mistake the damage for health. When you throw a fight for profit, the tendancy is to defend the profit and ensure nobody questions the propriety of having thrown the fight while the evidence is there in front of everyone. Traitor is a word being properly applied for a reason. It isn't a slur, it is merely a proper application that fits the facts. And there is going to be a price paid for it.
Quote: " Find something else to do, move, go to China and work for 25 cents."
If that is the case why even have any loyalty to the US??? With "madawgs" attitude why even fight for the USA's way of life and protections (Bill of rights, constitution etc)
His argument (like most on the left) will change when it breaks down and does not support his theory. His theory is Free Trade=Bad Protectionist/Keynesian/Socialist economics=Good.
Congress lowered taxes more money was freed up and the job market grew. Before that it was Free Markets lost us Jobs. Now that argument left it is the kind of jobs now and people have to have three of them to survive. Then you point out that surviving doesn't mean you need two 40 thousand dollar autos and house with a mortgage over 300 thousand bucks and the argument changes again.
Businesses operate on one theory alone: Profits. The Left and Unions have loaded down American businesses with government regulations and employment rules to the point that many are finding it more profitable to go somewhere else to make more profit EVEN WHEN ADDING IN THE COSTS OF MOVING GOODS ACROSS VAST DISTANCES.
The three main rules in business used to be:
1. Location
2. Location
3. Location.
Now it is:
1. Avoid Regulation
2. Avoid Regulation
3. Avoid Regulation.
Want to fix outsourcing? Make it more profitable for businesses to set up shop in America. Not by making government rules but by getting government out of the way.
Most days I do. I have worked 12 hour days by choice since my first supervisory/management position in 82. I find that way I can get more done and still have time to goof off like Freeping. 6 am to 8 am is prime for getting way ahead of the day..
Wow, you mean government intervention in the Free Market has caused unintended consequences?
Astonishing, isn't it?
If I had to pump gas for a living I'd do it and smile about it too. I came into the world with nothing and I still have most of it! Success is relative. My relatives have all the success and aint givin me none. I hate them all and I will moon them at the family reunion.
German jobless hits Nazi-era highs"
I guess they didn't succeed then. Should we take that as a warning of what could happen here if we don't learn from their experience?
Nope, wrong again (as usual). You claim the right to use foreign labor, at rates that are illegal in the USA, to produces goods and services for the US market. You then absolve yourself of all social responsibility for the resulting poverty and call that a conservative world view. hahahaha, to add to your short sightedness you fail to recognize that your economic system is a short cut to fascism, communistiism, feudalism that will either enshare you or your prodigy.
No, not as you state it. They are to defend you from foreign nations VIOLATING your rights. Not to mention violation from domestic people too. Do you advocate that the government "protect" you from your neighbors who would work for less as well?
Why should I be forced into poverty by being forced to compete with labor rates that would be illegal in the USA?
This is so pathetic I don't even know where to start.
And the illegal comment implies that you agree that government should set prices, Yes or no?
He does not even realize the depths of his irony.
"Wow, you mean ",p>Typical of a bot, dodge a plain and simple question. Well I we have met the limit of your intellectual honesty. Then about to lose the debate, dodge, spin, ridicule but by all means attempt to change to direction of the conversation. How so very typical of the bots on this site.
"I would rather hire good technical people with solid basic technical skills. They may not have the experience on the specific technology, but I would be confident that after a week or two of ramping up, they would probably be more productive than someone who has the specific experience, but poor general technical skills.
Again, not saying that this is your case, but I have seen this too many times."
Agreed, I run a web-development/database marketing company. The "hot shot" tech guys with the major experience do not integrate well into business philosophy of customers and deadlines. Instead, I have found they will quit on a seconds notice with attitude and steal data assets. Now I go for the mid-level guys hungry for a permanent home that can actually help me produce a profit, not a headache.
Nonsense. And it gets thrown around here quite a bit by cowards hiding behind keyboards on the net. Anyone calling me a traitor to my face will need dental work.
We as a nation learned the evils of unrestrained capitalism in post civil war USA so yes I believe that government has a role to play in preventing a return to 1880's sweat shops, child labor shops, and monopolies. If a producers gain a prices advantage by using labor rates that would be illegal in the nation then the nation has an OBLIGATION to lay duties on those products equal too, if not greater then the advantage gained by the illegal labor rates.
So you support the government setting prices? You seem to have problems answering that. You and all the rest of those on this thread who keep ignoring it.
You then absolve yourself of all social responsibility for the resulting poverty and call that a conservative world view.
I never called anything a conservative world view. And I have no responsibility to see to it that people in other countries starve so you can buy another car.
hahahaha, to add to your short sightedness you fail to recognize that your economic system is a short cut to fascism, communistiism, feudalism that will either enshare you or your prodigy.
Hard to say what all this nonsensical misspelled crap means.
Quote: Nonsense. And it gets thrown around here quite a bit by cowards hiding behind keyboards on the net. Anyone calling me a traitor to my face will need dental work.
20 years from now people with your views on selling out the American worker without moral consequence WILL be viewed as a traitor. BTW: I would not do too much boasting on your last line. I know many guys that would take you up on it.
We're seeing the same thing here in the People's Democratic Republic of Illinois. In order to keep our project moving we've hired 3 Pakistani's, a Russian, a Bulgarian and of course, a Mexican. They all had to move to the US.
I rest my case. Hillary loves you guys.
Oh I am sorry I forgot to taylor my response to your ecnomic comprehension level, here I will fix it:
See jpsb work. Work, jpsb work.
See jpsb want more money. Want more money jspb, want more money.
See unions strike. Strike unions, strike.
See government regulate wage prices. Regulate government, regulate.
See jpsb get a raise. Get a raise jpsb, get a raise.
See jpsb smile. Smile jpsb smile.
See the market react. React market, react.
See jpsb's employer outsource. Outsource jpsb's emplyoer, outsource.
See jpsb cry. Cry jpsb, cry.
see 254, I will debate fairly, and do not dodge any resonable questions.
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