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
"You are probably in better shape then people in blue areas. My observation is that the red area job growth is just fine - it's the traditional urban coastal areas and rust belt that are experiencing the doldrums."
Wow, you almost exactly quoted something my brother opined about a couple of weeks ago.
The South, in general, with it's low cost of living, corporate tax rates and mild climate has really come out as an economic force in the past few years.
Because there are 5.4 million jobs that are "in-sourced" to America. They are mostly Union jobs and if we stopped "out-sourcing" altogether then our trading partners would reciprocate.
"You are probably in better shape then people in blue areas. My observation is that the red area job growth is just fine - it's the traditional urban coastal areas and rust belt that are experiencing the doldrums."
Wow, you almost exactly quoted something my brother opined about a couple of weeks ago.
The South, in general, with it's low cost of living, corporate tax rates and mild climate has really come out as an economic force in the past few years.
Don't need a job as of yet,but I know alot of telecom guys in the area.Send me a PM with your info.
Quote: Yes, because union workers already compete.....GM, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Nissan, VW, etc
...so, non union autoworkers making say $14-18.oo per hour will be able to make a car competitevely priced with chicom labor at $2-$3.00 PER DAY??? Plus no environmental laws, OSHA, and intellectual property stolen from US etcc YOU ARE DREAMING
The neighborhood kids won't do it, typically, for one of two reasons. Either they are vidiots, or, they consume all their time from age 7 working on getting a really great SAT score, so they can become a partner in a law firm.
Two things that should always be Chicago style, Pizza and Economics.
Read my comment more carefully. Most people I see that are working 2-3 jobs are living very frugally and are not living beyond their means. I deal with 100's of employees each month and am down in the trenches so to speak and see what is ACTUALLY GOING ON.
Questions for you:
1. Would you hire 50somethings who have been "early retired" against their wishes?
A1. YES, I'm 51.
2. Have such candidates applied?
A2. NONE so far.
3. Where are you located (generally speaking)
A3. Birmingham AL
4. Are you a stickler about degrees?
A4. None of the jobs require a degree. College degrees are overrated. I have on but I got mine on the GI bill while working full time. Nothing from my degree makes my job any easier or harder.
5. How would you characterize the candidates who have applied thus far.
A5. In a phrase, "Would you like some fries with that".
Good point. If we lived the way oh so many folks do, I'd have to work at least 2 jobs just the pay the interest. However, instead, our only debt is a mortgage that would be considered miniscule by most folks. That's it, no other debt. Nada. Of course, we'll never make it into Sunset Magazine either. :=)
You're dreaming if you think chicom cars will be the only cars on the road.
Bravo Sierra! I have over 20 years in the tech industry. First programming in mainframe and client server. Now, I cannot even find a job driving a taxi.
I couldn't resist. I'd only have a problem with it if you were an illegal alien.
I disagree on both points.
Also the people I see having to work 2-3 jobs is not nessecarily because they have "too many trappings" like you surmised. Some yes. But most I come across are very frugal.
I never said they have "too many trappings", I asked if they had them. It goes to whether they are in bad shape or not. Whether they need those extra jobs to survive or to get a second car or Plasma TV or play golf. Or smoke cigarttes at $5 a pack. Or drink beer. The poorest Americans are better off than most of the people in the rest of the world.
Construction jobs used to pay $14-15 in my area. Now they pay $7-8.oo per hour because hispanics are willing to do it for that amount.
Competition is a bitch. Those damn old hispanics,,they don't charge high enough prices!!!!
My main point is our country maybe getting a boost from low wages at this time but I think it is going to come crashing down.
I don't think it's getting a "boost".
In the future you will see more people on welfare/public assistance, Heap, food stamps etc.
Those programs should be abolished.
There ya have it. Choke on it.
Thanks. I realize you answered a number of these elsewhere but in this format it puts it into perspective. I wish you luck. The main challenge, as I see it, is to convince people who have negative stereotypes about your area to get real. There is far too much regional elitism in this country, and it is a major factor in job imbalances. But the upside for you is, you are not surrounded by whining libs / communists. Fascinating...
Then move to Birmingham or Huntsville, AL.
Post your jobs to this thread...see how many resumes you get...
I know. I'm thinking about switching sides too and becoming a hiree rather than a hirer. I am not Superman. I have a broad skill set but I'm just one man.
Me too.
We don't live in a free world, but if we did, there would be no need for "legal" or illegal" immigrints. Borders are needed because the world ISN'T free. We in a somewhat free country cannot provide for all the people who are less free, or not free at all.
If you want to stop the inflow of these people from other places, like Mexico, you need to work on the other side of the equation.
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