C-Span 8:05 a.m. IT OUTSOURCING TO INDIA (Good for the USA?)

[LittleApple81]

Daniel Pink, a writer from Wired Magazine. Interesting.

[baldguy]

1. Outsourcing is BAD BAD BAD

This guy is saying "This is just another step in our history. Our economy used to be based on agriculture, then it moved to manufacturing, then it moved to services. And we survived; we'll survive this as well."

What he doesn't say is that agriculture was around for 6000 yrs before it was replaced by manufacturing, and that process took about 300 yrs. The manufacturing economy has been around for about 200 yrs, and has been replaced by services; that took about 10 yrs. The service economy hasn't even matured yet and now it's going away.

Its not only that your job isn't going to be there, or that your company isn't going to be there - your entire industry won't be there.

What will replace it? Who knows? This is another aspect of the rush toward a "free market". What they want to be free is the cost of labor. For American workers to compete with workers in the third world they will have to accept third world level pay. That's fine if you want to be a coder, but if you want to live in this country you'll have to live in a cardboard box in a park - because that's all you'll be able to afford.

[gulliver]

4. "What will replace it?"

That question is a great counterpoint to the "this is just a transition" argument made by pro-outsourcers. When manufacturing went downhill there was a burgeoning services industry to move into. There isn't anything like that now.

Another point I like to make is that we are all in this together. It isn't just IT people, accountants, and call center workers in trouble. Those people are all going to have to transition to other white collar jobs, glutting the market for white collar labor of all kinds.

[baldguy]

5. Bingo.

A ROBUST economy requires that people be employed in all sectors, at every wage level. The ideal would be a bell curve - very few poor, a small number of lower middle-class, more than half middle class, a small number of upper middle class, and very few ultra rich. Policies like outsourcing take away a big chunk of the jobs for the people smack dab in the middle of the curve. Those people almost never get jobs even as good as those they've had, so there is inevitable spiral downward for the economy.

No matter who you are, no matter what you do, no matter how good you do it - there's ALWAYS someone who will do it cheaper.

[Buns_of_Fire]

2. Retraining in new, high-concept professions is the key...

...although I don't really see where standing behind a counter, asking "Would you like fries with that?" is all that "high-concept." (Besides, the McDonald's in My Little Town isn't hiring, anyway.)

[nostamj]

3. he made Pollyanna look like a worrywort

i had to turn it off when he said we'd all be retraining for 'high concept' 'big picture' jobs... it's just a matter of time.

i pray HIS job gets cut, then i'll listen to his rosy predictions

[Enraged_Ape]

6. I don't think even the dumbest Freeper could get behind this

If this is all the Republican whore media's got left, they are all toast in November.

[Lone_Wolf]

7. Welcome to JIT... the Just in Time Workforce

JIT is a cost control concept that corporation have wanted for a long time for their workforces-workforces they can scale up or down on management's whim. When demand for a companies product is high, companies will hire more people on a temporary basis and work them to the bone in order to churn out product. When demand for a product drops, they will scale down the workforce in order to reduce costs.

The only ones benefitting from outsourcing are corporations. Ordinary people will be the biggest losers as the will become even more dependent on wage slavery to survive.

[earthman dave]

8. Depends what you mean by "USA"

If (as is usually the case) "Good for the USA" means "Good for the bank balance of a small number of incredibly rich people" then yeah, it will be. Sorry if you're not one of those rich people - I guess that means you're not part of "the USA". :evilgrin:

[Walt Starr]

9. It'll devestate any company that does it

now that Microsoft kerrnel code is out in the wild. Trying to support an office under a massive viral attack in Chicago, IL from Delhi is impossible when there are no AV definitions for the virus and the only way to fight the thing is with a patch to the OS that does not exist and could take weeks to exist.

[rfranklin]

10. I see it as a security issue...

and a far greater than airplane terrorists. Our economic well-being and the key to all our financial transactions is being handed over to India. It's sort of like handing over your ATM card and PIN to some guy passsing in the street. Suddenly, you have no control over your bank acocunt and you have to trust this stranger to do the right thing.

[Gin]

11. When changes happened in this country...all of the industries still

remained here...the difference now is..the manufacturing base is located in a foreign country...that has no comparison to any other time in our history. Only when this touches people at the top in some way...will it stop.

[Bozita]

12. Replay of this segment of WJ has just begun

[Gin]

13. Lou Dobbs is the only voice against what is happening....Pink is happy

with the process....may his job be outsourced.