The US Labor Force: One Foot in the Third World

[dddooo]

Quote from vhehn:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...0/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0012822-0207049

What is more sobering is Friedman's elaboration on Bill Gates' statement, "When I compare our high schools to what I see when I'm traveling abroad, I am terrified for our work force of tomorrow. In math and science, our fourth graders are among the top students in the world. By eighth grade, they're in the middle of the pack. By 12th grade, U.S. students are scoring near the bottom of all industrialized nations. . . . The percentage of a population with a college degree is important, but so are sheer numbers. In 2001, India graduated almost a million more students from college than the United States did. China graduates twice as many students with bachelor's degrees as the U.S., and they have six times as many graduates majoring in engineering. In the international competition to have the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling behind."

Blaming our labor problems on education is kind of ridicuoulous when companies like IBM (and Microsoft) lay off thousands of qualified Americans with college degrees and years of job experience, lay off tens of thousands of equally qualified Europeans and hire equal number of Indians in Bangalore willing to work for $3-$5 hour. What exactly does it have to do with education?

Of course the situation in american schools will only get worse, personally am going to do my best to talk my kids out of pursuing technical/engineering/scientific careers as anything that can be outsourced will eventually be outsourced and no amount of education can possibly offset labor cost arbitrage.


PS Friedman will only get it when his job is outsourced, any semi-educated english speaking Rajiv or Kumar can write the garbage he is writing.

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

Quote from Madison:

outsourcing has little to do with the education levels of foreigners, they don't care if the worker is illiterate or has a PhD.

"competitiveness" is a euphemism for willingness/need to work for 50 cents a day without any labor laws, pensions, social security, health care coverage, workers comp, union backing, OSHA protection, or sexual harassment liability, and with minimal government services.

notice, of course, that despite all this "competitiveness" the US multinationals retain their US incorporation, and the associated legal benefits -- and that the executives benefitting from all this "competitiveness" don't care to actually reside where their workers do, even with the morally bankrupt, liberal-infested US education system. wonder why that is.

You are correct about most of this. I don't disagree at all. But what is the solution? If you ban outsourcing, you are basically erecting a barrier to trade in services. That is probably illegal under GAT, not to mention exactly the opposite of our current goals in trade negotiations.

It's hopelessly naive to say "bring the working conditions at these outsourcing venues up to our level". Sounds good but the gap is too vast to close in a realistic timeframe.

Trade barriers have a way of multiplying as well. If you ban imports of something, you put the companies that use that product at a competitive disadvantage. Their costs are higher than their foreign competitors, so there is immediate pressure to assist them with additional trade barriers.

 

[wilburbear]

Quote from dddooo:

Blaming our labor problems on education is kind of ridicuoulous when companies like IBM (and Microsoft) lay off thousands of qualified Americans with college degrees and years of job experience, lay off tens of thousands of equally qualified Europeans and hire equal number of Indians in Bangalore willing to work for $3-$5 hour. What exactly does it have to do with education?

Of course the situation in american schools will only get worse, personally am going to do my best to talk my kids out of pursuing technical/engineering/scientific careers as anything that can be outsourced will eventually be outsourced and no amount of education can possibly offset labor cost arbitrage.


PS Friedman will only get it when his job is outsourced, any semi-educated english speaking Rajiv or Kumar can write the garbage he is writing.

It is not legal in our country to discriminate based on race or ethnicity. And, it shouldn't be legal to discriminate against poor people in other countries on the same basis.

 

[dddooo]

Quote from wilburbear:

It is not legal in our country to discriminate based on race or ethnicity. And, it shouldn't be legal to discriminate against poor people in other countries on the same basis.

While I find this argument particularly silly, nevertheless it's legal to discriminate based on whether a person is an american citizen and/or american taxpayer.

 

[EdgeHunter]

Quote from dddooo:

....anything that can be outsourced will eventually be outsourced and no amount of education can possibly offset labor cost arbitrage.

Amen to that... and arrrgghh...

But also sooner or later - probably sooner i believe - the hidden inflation that is rampant in the USA will fizzle out like a released balloon...

For example, i have eaten at the same restaraunt in Monterey, CA for 30 YEARS... the cost of their small green salad with carrots and tomatoes, etc was .85 cents in 1975... Yes, 85 cents... Now in 2005 it is $6.85 cents... Quanity and quality are the exact same.

Outsourcing may work in the short run for corps but in the long run they are gonna get nailed to... only the biggest and the baddest will survive since only they can cut costs the lowest for the public who will have a LOT less to spend... what goes around comes around...


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[moo]

What a bunch of leftist propaganda. It's very sad that people actually believe this nonsense.

 

[mhashe]

Quote from moo:

What a bunch of leftist propaganda. It's very sad that people actually believe this nonsense.

Most of it sounded like ignorant right-wingers mouthing off. Ofcourse leftists are just as bad.

 

[dddooo]

Quote from moo:

What a bunch of leftist propaganda. It's very sad that people actually believe this nonsense.

What does it have to do with "beliefs"? No one even attempted to challenge and dispute facts and information presented in the article. Anyone is certainly free to believe in whatever he/she wants to and not let the facts interfere with those beliefs.

As far as being leftist propaganda:
"Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments and has contributed to numerous scholarly publications. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. His graduate economics education was at the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. "

 

[EdgeHunter]

Quote from mhashe:

Most of it sounded like ignorant right-wingers mouthing off. Ofcourse leftists are just as bad.

As a centrist-libertarian you all appear wacky... said the man in the mirror....


__________________
HAVE STOP - WILL TRADE

If You Have The Vision We Have The Code

 

[EdgeHunter]

Quote from dddooo:

What does it have to do with "beliefs"? No one even attempted to challenge and dispute facts and information presented in the article. Anyone is certainly free to believe in whatever he/she wants to and not let the facts interfere with those beliefs.

As far as being leftist propaganda:
"Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments and has contributed to numerous scholarly publications. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. His graduate economics education was at the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. "

Agree - Paul is an honorable writer...

_________________
HAVE STOP - WILL TRADE

If You Have The Vision We Have The Code