Upbeat Take on Outsourcing

Those low value manufacturing jobs are no worse off than those low value programing jobs, or those low value help desk jobs, or those low value woodworking jobs, or those low value mariners jobs, or those low value skippers on the oil tankers, or the low value construction trades, or the low value steel fabrication jobs.

Other than the CEO, what is a high value job? Working retail? Macs? A tire store?

How much have the prices of cars come down since we eliminated all of those low value maunufacturing jobs? And parts supply jobs? And how many Fords or Cadilacs do we sell in South America, much less Bengladesh or Sri Lanka? How many American branded shirts now that we pay $1/day for teens to sew?

There are some issues with in our own manufacturing that is an issue, Unions in auto industry have long resisted automation, this puts us behind some foreign manufacturers. If Unions were forward thinking they would lead not fight advancement of their member labor force. However, our business people are exceptionally corrupt and should not be trusted as far as you can beat them with a baseball bat. We open trade to foreign markets because they tell us it will increase sales in those markets of US goods, but the chinese and central americans can not afford US goods. What we see is these businesses outsourcing labor to these new open markets and manufacturing goods there to sell in the US. Hard to compete fairly with a country that will just execute laborers for complaining about living in conditions we would consider unsuitable for our prisons. Though the conditions are conducive to Walmarts profits. Well at least we have a stong movie industry, maybe they can employ the labor force, and we'll become a county of actors and CEOs.

I believe he is totally wrong. I work in manufacturing but our government is to blame for some outsourcing of jobs. We do what is required by law that other foreign competitors are not required to do IE: OSHA, Work Comp, Insurance, FICA, FMLA etc. all raising our cost of doing business just to name a few. The continued outsourcing of good manufacturing jobs will drive the US standard of living down as we are replacing these good paying jobs with lower paying service jobs. Maybe he sees poor work practices, I see the best practices, most efficient business's in the entire workd her in the US but not for long unless Washington wakes up.

Russell W. Mims, Jr.

Buhler Quality Yarns Corp

Jefferson, GA

Michael's right. I would not even have an opinion on the subject had I not just read "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. I have a VERY positive view at this time.

D. Owen

US expat--Auckland, New Zealand

A Scottish perspective

In the beginning, only low level jobs were outsourced, but as the Western banks demand returns much sooner, and the governments introduce more and more red tape, the only large factories being built are in the Far East.

Universities are now opening campuses in China, as there are so many Chinese wishing to gain degrees. The advantages that were developed over many years are being eaten away.

The next stage of world development will be the rise of the unions in the developing countries, and as prices rise there, these multinationals will move on to the next cheapest places - African countries probably.

I would expect that in the next hundred years all possibilities for relocation on wage/government policy grounds will be used up, and then facility size and proximity to customers will be more important.

And they're all using our 491K and pension plan money to do it. I suppose that now they're using the Japanese pensions, and soon they'll be using the Bengladeshi, Indonesian, Sri Lankan, and Indian pensions to move to Nigeria, Chad, and Ethiopia. And behind they will leave broken economies and disillusioned populations that have become accustomed to at least a second world quality as they drop back into the third world slots.

RichH

I don't think business people are as exceptionally corrupt as they are short sighted.

When America stops being a nation who manufactures goods, what good will we be to anyone, especially Americans?