MSNBC's Glenn Reynolds: "More On Outsourcing"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3395977/

Not a lot of new info here but a nicely framed aspect of the debate:

"Meanwhile, Tom Friedman has a column in today's New York Times that argues that outsourcing actually creates jobs in America:

"How can it be good for America to have all these Indians doing our white-collar jobs?" I asked 24/7's founder, S. Nagarajan.
Well, he answered patiently, "look around this office." All the computers are from Compaq. The basic software is from Microsoft. The phones are from Lucent. The air-conditioning is by Carrier, and even the bottled water is by Coke, because when it comes to drinking water in India, people want a trusted brand. On top of all this, says Mr. Nagarajan, 90 percent of the shares in 24/7 are owned by U.S. investors. This explains why, although the U.S. has lost some service jobs to India, total exports from U.S. companies to India have grown from $2.5 billion in 1990 to $4.1 billion in 2002. What goes around comes around, and also benefits Americans."

Except those who are out of work and can't afford a Coke in the U.S.A., that is.

[evil_orange_cat]

1. yeah, Friedman forgot to mention $8 billion dollar trade deficit US/INDIA

:eyes: but Friedman's always been a free-trade hawkish pud... this isn't surprising.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Good point. If there is a trade-deficit, we're losing money.

Good point. If there is a trade-deficit, we're losing money.

It's bogus for Thomas Friedman to talk about exports increasing without saying that we have a trade-deficit with India.

[lastknowngood]

2. An American label doesn't mean American jobs

all of those items are made outside the U.S. now they have been outsourced!

[kalian]

3. Ummm....

What goes around comes around, and also benefits Americans.

I'd like for them to explain this to me... Its quite obvious that
there is a full-court blitz on spinning the outsourcing as a "good"
thing.
Here's what we have observed from all this outsourcing that started
20+ years ago:

Take jeans for example... Levis sent its factories over to Mexico.
Their reasoning (and justification) was that cheaper labor would
bring down the unitary cost, since labor is the most expensive
variable in the production equation.
So, how come the unitary cost of a Levis jean remains the same OR
HIGHER than compared to 15 years ago?

Same thing with cars.
In essence, you can argue that this applies to ALL GOODS. Another
example is Eddie Bauer. They produce most of their "high end"
apparel in Pakistan, Bangladesh or some other obscure poor, little
country. Most of those workers are paid in CENTS..not even dollars.

So...how come their shirts, slacks and belts cost more than 40 dollars
on average? :shrug: The ONLY people that "benefit" from this are
the sharholders as profits surge through the roof. The American
consumer continues to pay more...and makes less...or nothing...

:mad:

[Eric J in MN]

5. If an American office had those jobs, it would buy at least as many

If an American office had those jobs, it would buy at least as many American products for it's operations, and it's workers would have money to spend after work on other American products.

[terisel]

6. Friedman - a cheerleader for the Iraq War?

I've been outsourcing Thomas Friedman.

I've stopped reading Friedman's corporate-investor propaganda. When I go to the NY Times editorial page I now choose to read their foreign links-such as The Guardian editorial. So I'm letting the Guardian and others provide me with opinion rather than Friedman.

Ever notice how so many of Friedman's columns mention his lunching with someone ? He is like a gossip columnist. There is no depth.

His column today is an advertisement for outsourcing under the guise of making the world safer for our 20 year olds. This is despicable.

Was he not a cheerleader for the Iraq War which is still murdering our 20 year olds ? Has he apologized or made reparations?

[area51]

7. Tom Friedman: "Outsourcing actually creates jobs in America"

Coming up next, Friedman explains to us peons how up is down, black is white, war is peace, good is bad, etc. </sarcasm>