JOBS MOVED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

[Wilma]

Waldo, you are so good at researching, could you do this for me?  I have been watching the View and they have been talking about jobs that have been moved outside the United States.  Could you find how many companies have moved part of their businesses outside the United States in the past 8 years?  If you don't want to do this, just say so.  I won't take offense and I hope you aren't offended by me asking.   You just seem to be able to find things that it takes me forever to find.  I would really like to know.

[W. Gray]

If you are looking for clear-cut figures, there are not any and probably never will be unless the Department of Labor should get involved.

Outsourcing is a political football Democrats use against the present administration. The worse figures they can create/come up with, the better.

No doubt Republicans will throw that same football at Democrats should they come into power next year using the worse figures they can create/come with.

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/jobs/outsourcing_myths.cfm

The AFL-CIO is not an objective source for outsourcing information but does say at their web site:
No one knows for sure how many jobs are being shipped overseas, primarily because the government neither collects this information nor requires companies to disclose it. According to most estimates, American workers have lost hundreds of thousands of white-collar jobs to outsourcing over the past few years and millions of jobs will be shipped overseas in the next five to ten years.

[Wilma]

You more or less answered my question.  A couple of candidate wannabees are saying that they will stop the outsourcing of jobs.  I am more concerned with whether or not these companies are getting tax breaks and how much the United States is losing in taxes.  I don't suppose these figures are available either.  Thanks for the information.  I doubt if a new president could stop the outsourcing anyway.  It will have to be an Act of Congress to do anything.

[W. Gray]

A President, Democrat or Republican, can do nothing about outsourcing.

A law would get nowhere in Congress.

In our democratic society, higher forces in the form of the Market are in play.

Outsourcing is market driven and the market is the only force than would or could do anything about it.

[MarineMom]

Am I right in thinking it is really up to us--the consumer--if we refuse to buy goods made anywhere but the USA some of the jobs would come back but as long as we are buying the cheaper foreign made products the work will continue to go overseas

[W. Gray]

My opinion:

If we refuse to buy a foreign made product, we have to have an alternative product to take its place or go without. If the alternative product costs more, we are probably not going to put up with continually paying a higher price. And, if we really want a product, we are not going to go without. It is just not human nature to pay more or go without.

An American company will hire the cheapest labor possible consistent with creating a good product whether that labor is in Topeka or Bangkok. Companies are in business to make a profit and legally maximizing that profit is the bottom line as in any capitalist society.

If a bucket costs a company $1 to make in Topeka but only 50 cents in Bangkok, and all other things are equal, the company will make the bucket in Bangkok.

Some folks might say the company is only in it for the profit, but profit drives everything including the common man. If he or she can opt between a $2 an hour job and a $1.75 an hour job, he/she is going to take the higher paying job anyway they can consistent with minimizing their expenses getting there.

It is amazing that a product can be made overseas, incur shipping and import costs from half way around the world and still be cheaper than if it were manufactured in the US. Some people will say that the product is inferior since it is not American made, but only the market will determine that.

I think politicians on both sides make a bigger problem out of outsourcing than it really is.

[T. Sackett]

One of the reasons why so many jobs are leaving this country has to do with NAFTA.  It was abt. 1992 when a Presidential candidate, Ross Perrot, told the American people that if America joined the NAFTA, there would be a sucking sound with so many jobs leaving this country, and that is exactly what has happened.  When Bill Clinton became President, he was all "gung-ho" about getting the NAFTA, so therefore the American people have been paying through the nose, losing their jobs, etc. so you can hold Mr. Clinton responsible for so many jobs lost.

[greatguns]

Don't overlook the outsourcing in this country.  It isn't all outside of the US.  It is all about the almighty dollar.