Welcome to Capitalism 101. The market is whatever is available to a consumer at a given time. If Indian programmers are available then the wages demanded by Indian programmers are part of the market. In any event, the market is global with global producers and global consumers. You can call me an internationalist all you want but the fact remains that people almost everywhere are capable of producing most goods and services and are consuming global goods and services.
Even if we didn't hire a single Indian programmer, the Europeans or Japanese would and they could underbid our software companies. Even if we put up tariffs, the South Americans wouldn't and American firms would be outsold in South America.
I should also add that should a company refuse to ship what work they can abroad to take advantage of lower wages, their competitors will. Let's say for instance that Hewlett Packard was to decree that henceforth no more programming and support jobs will be shipped overseas. Do you think the consumers will rally around HP and buy their more expensive products and services? Hell no. HP's competitors will have them for lunch.
I should hasten to add that the American consumer also makes no distinction anymore as to whether or not a product is manufactured in the USA. If there are Chinese made jeans at Wal-Mart selling for $10 a pair less than the American-made jeans, guess what? The Chinese-made jeans will fly off the shelves and virtually nobody will touch the more expensive ones.
I must say that it makes me feel uncomfortable that many of our well-paying jobs are being shipped overseas. But I see no way out of it other than the government telling companies they can't do that. But then that will go against most of what conservatives are supposed to stand for (free market capitalism, less government regulation of industry, etc.).
It certainly is a dilemma.
I guess I wonder about the accountants who don't seem to look at "the big picture." They don't look past the next reporting period... I wonder what happened to "enlightened capitalism," like what Henry Ford proposed... (please, no NAZI jokes here). Being sure that he paid he workers enough to afford his products.
Mark