How Can We Beat Outsourcing?

[CountVerilucus]

I will be straight up, I absolutely despise outsourcing. Americans are losing good decent paying jobs all the time to India and China. The fact is, they can get the job done just as well but do it for less. I realize the fact that companies need to do it in order to compete in the world's Capitalist society. It is a laissez-faire world whether you like it or not. What can you do? I do realize the need to outsource a lot of the manufacturing. But the other jobs like engineering?

 

Should we tax the companies that outsource?

 

Should we give the companies tax benefits for not outsourcing?

 

Another problem is more and more American youths are going in and getting educations in fields of sports medicine and liberal arts. Instead of engineering and science. They say we will soon be the massage capital of the world. All are prestigious fields but the largest and most profitable economy of now and tomorrow will be in technology.

 

I say America needs to focus on what it has always done when other nations begin to catch up with us in business. We let them have it!

 

When everybody was competing in the textile industry...America lets them have it and switches to telephones, lightbulbs, and automobiles. Once everybody gets close to catching up with us on that we switch to software, electronics, and information technology.

 

The only true way that America can stop this in my mind is to come out with a totally new product(s). One that is revolutionary and cheaper to manufacture in the country.

 

You ask how can we do this? America can do it, we are a conglomerate of what is best in all the cultures in the world and our society is most fertile ground for entrepeneurship. Every situation in the past where America has truly focused on getting something done they got it done and we can do it again. Only problem is our focus is a bit questionable.

 

What would be nice:

 

Increased education reform and funding

More government investment in technology companies

Reduction of influence of Petroleum companies

Get off dependence of Arab Oil

 

Discuss please...

(If nobody has anything to say then that's fine, just wanted to get this out. This is the biggest concern I have for my country.)

[Achilles]

I will be straight up, I absolutely despise outsourcing. Americans are losing good decent paying jobs all the time to India and China. The fact is, they can get the job done just as well but do it for less. I realize the fact that companies need to do it in order to compete in the world's Capitalist society. It is a laissez-faire world whether you like it or not.

Well to play devil's advocate here, outsourcing low-skill jobs to third-world countries is beneficial for everyone. They get the opportunity to become finacially salient, which reduces strain on developed nations that typically subsidize these countries, and allows them to begin paying back their debt to creditor nations. In a perfect world, this results in cheaper products for the world markets and everyone wins.

 

Remember that at no point are sweat-shop conditions used in this Utopian scenario. The problem is that the Utopian scenario doesn't exist and a lot of the pros and cons are exacerbated (extreme profits for organizations and goods that no one can afford because their jobs were shipped overseas).

 

What can you do? I do realize the need to outsource a lot of the manufacturing. But the other jobs like engineering?

I submit that we're losing our upper tier jobs because a) we're not introducing skilled labor into the market and b) other countries are.

 

Should we tax the companies that outsource?

We could, but then we risk having companies incorporate in other countries which means our economy would lose all the money that comes into our market via corporate taxes. Probably a bad bet.

 

Should we give the companies tax benefits for not outsourcing?

Worth a thought. Keep in mind that we'd be offsetting the benefit of the tax income with a tax benefit, thereby reducing our "profit margin". Also, how liberal would these tax benefits have to be in order to compete with the decreased labor cost of shipping production overseas? Keep in mind that labor is every organization's largest variable cost.

 

Another problem is more and more American youths are going in and getting educations in fields of sports medicine and liberal arts. Instead of engineering and science. They say we will soon be the massage capital of the world. All are prestigious fields but the largest and most profitable economy of now and tomorrow will be in technology.

Technology and science I would argue. I'm really tempted to go off on a religion tangent right now, but I won't. I will say that I agree that we are not currently preparing our future generations to be competitive in the technology and science fields.

 

I remember hearing something in relation to this the other day that said MS has some jobs that have been sitting there, vacant, for years because they can't find qualified people to fill them. Unfortunately, Googling "Gates microsoft jobs" and equivalents gives a bunch of stuff on the rivalry between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, so I can't source it. Therefore take it with a grain of salt.

 

I say America needs to focus on what it has always done when other nations begin to catch up with us in business. We let them have it!

 

When everybody was competing in the textile industry...America lets them have it and switches to telephones, lightbulbs, and automobiles. Once everybody gets close to catching up with us on that we switch to software, electronics, and information technology.

 

The only true way that America can stop this in my mind is to come out with a totally new product(s). One that is revolutionary and cheaper to manufacture in the country.

 

You ask how can we do this? America can do it, we are a conglomerate of what is best in all the cultures in the world and our society is most fertile ground for entrepeneurship. Every situation in the past where America has truly focused on getting something done they got it done and we can do it again. Only problem is our focus is a bit questionable.

Amen brother! I think we should all email George Bush right now and ask him why he's only allocating $58 billion for education in 2008 (Source). Also we should all write to our friends in Congress and find out why they cut funding for student loans last year while raising interest rates.

 

What would be nice:

 

Increased education reform and funding

More government investment in technology companies

Reduction of influence of Petroleum companies

Get off dependence of Arab Oil

Just so long as we abandon this whole ethanol/hydrogen thing and actually start looking at viable alternative fuel options that don't require obscene government subsides. I guarantee you that whoever runs on a platform of reasonable tax cuts for innovations in solar, wind, and tidal power will carry the American southwest and all of the coastal states.