Bush administration has no plans to block offshore outsourcing

COMPUTERWORLD ^ | SEPTEMBER 25, 2003 | Patrick Thibodeau

[Question_Assumptions]

I was joking. Of course it isn't a good idea but it isn't a good idea for anyone. Ask Japan what happens to an export-driven economy when currency inflation and global economic downturns make it harder to export.

[Lazamataz]

I was joking.

Okay. I am so used to being savaged by the rose-colored-glasses JOB LOSSES ARE GOOD crowd, that I cannot tell the players without a scorecard any more.

[sinkspur]

I simply cannot express enough reasons why this is a horrible idea.

What's your solution? International companies like IBM can move as much as they want to their Indian subsidiary.

Other companies could simply move offshore, if protectionist measures were instituted.

I don't know what the answer is, but tariffs and protectionism certainly aren't the solution.

[Question_Assumptions]

If you want to put me down on your scorecard, you can put me down as "undecided". I think both sides have some good points to make and currently think that the solution lies somewhere between full-blown protectionism and unfettered free trade.

[bvw]

International companies

A company is not a nation, not a person. It IS an entity OF THE STATE. It exists only by means of a charter from a government.

There are NO International Companies.

[B Knotts]

Hire them to do what????!

Cut the grass at the corporate headquarters?

[sinkspur]

There are NO International Companies.

Of course there are. Companies can be "chartered" in many countries. IBM has subsidiaries all over the world, as you know. And, in the age of the internet, moving work over wires is an easy thing to do.

[bvw]

There are thug companies and whimp countries, that's true -- I agree with you. Most any company what calls itself "An International Company" is a thug, outlaw company -- a rebel against it's charter. And any Nation what does not reign it in, and establish dominance over it is a whimp nation.

[WRhine]

Headline should read "Bush Administration Only Plans to Help Foreigners, Not American Citizens."

That's the Unholy Truth About this Administration be it about Immigration or Trade. American Citizens have been reduced to Second Class Citizens in their own country.

Whatever Foreigners here or overseas, want or demand, they get from Bush. Either Bush remembers whose interests he is supposed to represent quick or he faces a needlessly close election again next year with a good possibility of defeat.

[sinkspur]

Most any company what calls itself "An International Company" is a thug, outlaw company -- a rebel against it's charter. And any Nation what does not reign it in, and establish dominance over it is a whimp nation.

These are galactically stupid statements.

You're not in business, are you?

[bvw]

They are true statements.

[Texas_Dawg]

That follows. If you are more against his policies than most, but still are loyal to him, that does in fact make you a higher-level BushBot.

Happily so. I'm just not so naive as you to think that there's anyone else out there right now willing to do what it takes to save our country and world from one of the most serious ideological threats it has ever faced. I'm not so naive as you as to think that a Bush loss wouldn't mean total disaster and more 9/11s (as a Bush, Sr. loss meant the first 9/11).

[Texas_Dawg]

You're not in business, are you?

I think you're question gets to the root of 99% of many FReepers serious problems with radical anti-capitalism.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

[ He said the offshore trend could also affect national defense. "One morning we will wake up 10 years from now and we will not have the skills needed to support the infrastructure of this country," ]

[KC_Conspirator]

This Coburn scumbag is firmly in bed with the Indian government and the Indian business community. He does nothing, not creating one effing job, but somehow has the answers to compete.

[A. Pole]

"The answer to economic challenges is growth and innovation," said Chris Israel, a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce, speaking at an Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) panel on IT services outsourcing in New York. He cited the administration's support for increased investment in research and development, education and expanded trade authority for the president as part of its efforts to improve growth.

"Education", in what? More "expanded trade authority for the president"? "Improve growth", what growth?

[A. Pole]

Hire them to do what????!

Selling apples.

"Gentlemen, you have come sixty days to late. The depression is over."

[A. Pole]

What's your solution? International companies like IBM can move as much as they want to their Indian subsidiary.

Simple - foreign sales tax on imported goods and services to compensate for difference in wages or cost of living. On the other end, tax credit for hiring Americans.

But if IBM want to sell goods/services on Chinese or Indian markets this is their business.

[per loin]

I can order 50,000 widgets from the company in a nearby state, or I can order them from a country far away. The price of the widgets from the company in the next state are increased by all the regulations and tax burdens that our various levels of government place on that company. The widgets from the foreign country are not burdened with any tariffs because that would violate the religious sensitivities of those who worship the phrase "Free Trade". In short, "Free Trade" is just another name for "Foreign Aid".