Chaos Magnet

A little clarity

Daniel Drezner's posting got me really thinking about what it is that bothers me about this whole overseas outsourcing thing.

Let me make something clear.

I'm not opposed to spreading the wealth, so-to-speak, by providing jobs overseas, necessarily. What bothers me is the dishonesty about it. OK, you're doing it to boost the bottom line. Fine. Just don't try and tell us that it's to boost sales (ie, Boeing) or that we're going to like it, really.

Jon, who has "worked in and through the waves of global outsourcing first in the Engineering and Construction industry and most recently in the IT industry" probably put it best in his comment on Drezner's original post: "I do agree that the gains from this trend will benefit American corporations. However the benefit will not extend to the consumer and most certainly not to those displaced US employees suddenly finding a barren market for their career skills and expertise within the US.

Corporations will get the profit of the less costly operating and production costs found off-shore, which wealth will be re-distributed in executive incentive and bonus packages, certainly in no way returned to those US employees no longer employed. And the Administration’s support for reduced corporate taxation further lessen the degree to which the fruits of this labor will be reintegrated in a manner beneficial to the populace at large. The fantasy that US corporations will adopt as SOP and offer released workers “ex-employment” insurance is exactly that – a fantasy."

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