What's going to kill America is taxation, regulation, and social welfare. I'm not talking about helping out the Katrina victims (as a clear example) when I say social welfare. I'm talking about things like the bill before Congress that Rush mentioned the other day to buy set top devices that allow poor people to watch TV without having to buy a new digital set.
Taxation and regulation have already driven many businesses overseas or out of business. When you make the cost too high to do business in one locale, business will migrate. Business profitability is all about maximizing revenue and minimizing costs. The laws of economics are like the laws of physics - they cannot be changed or defeated. Lose money and your business dies.
That, and the hatred that the socialist media spews on a daily basis toward American business about how they only want to make a profit, how they are killing the environment and their workers, how they're corrupt, etc. I remember how everyone used to say "I don't want to end up working in some factory". Well, guess what, guys, you got your wish. Politicians and the bureaucracy chased those jobs right on down to Mexico, and to China.
Throw in unions and trial lawyers. The illegal immigration, long existent but encouraged by the Clintons in 1996 to maximize voter fraud for reelection, and the H-1B visas are typical reactions to misguided liberal policies. (I say misguided but they may be on purpose.) The market will always work no matter the govenments efforts to thwart it even if it has to become a "black market".
Re: "Taxation and regulation have already driven many businesses overseas or out of business. " Actually in this instance taxation and regulation do not have a single thing to do with H1-B. Even if corporate taxes were eliminated, technical and service related jobs that can be performed remotely would still be transferred to the area with the lowest costs. My company for instance does not directly hire H1-B, what we do is "project out" development. Our current in-house IT staff is about a third of what it was five years ago. But the number of contractors is rising. It started with IT but the model is now being used for engineering, ever heard of Areva? Over the next several years you can expect to see large companies transfer their “Purchasing and Procurement Departments” to the Czech Republic and Russia. None of the major equipment is made in the US anymore most large parts currently come from Spain or Italy, with China making major inroads into the market. It all boils down to cost of living. High cost of living means high labor rates. Lets face it in India one could live like a king on $30,000/year. In China $10,000/year.
But the new term to watch for in American Business is Just-In-Time Employment. When a project needs to be performed it will not be performed by an existing staff but by a staff of contractors, when the project is complete the contractors will be laid off.
I am not saying it is good or bad just a fact of life. Given we are in a world economy the playing field will have to be leveled. That means lower costs. The big surprise coming for those at the top of the corporate ladder is that once all of the “employees” are virtual or JIT, we will not need CEOs maiking 20 million a year as there is someone cheaper in China that can do their job also.
Unfortunately, allowing globalism while forcing your own companies to meet high standards will kill American business. You can not have fair, free trade with people who use slave, child labor.
WTF???!!!