President Defends Global Outsourcing

mytrip wrote to mention a New York Times article discussing President Bush's trip to the Indian subcontinent. There, he urged Americans to welcome global competition for their jobs. From the article: "Mr. Bush, reiterating a theme of his trip, strongly defended the outsourcing of American jobs to India as the reality of a global economy, and said that the United States should instead focus on India as a vital new market for American goods ... 'The classic opportunity for our American farmers and entrepreneurs and small businesses to understand is there is a 300 million-person market of middle class citizens here in India, and that if we can make a product they want, that it becomes viable,'"

Comments

Re:Bush Whacked.

[SpryGuy]

I have to disagree, but it's only a disagreement in terms of degree.

Voting for Republicans is voting for things to get a hundred times worse in this direction.

Voting for Democrats is voting for things to get not much worse in this direction.

With a plurality voting system, voting for a third party isn't a viable option ... it can lead to results such as the least popular alternative winning (when majorities get split). Until the voting system is fundamentally changed to something other than "Plurality", we're going to be pretty much stuck with two options: the party that at least tries to care about individuals (Democrats) and the party that doesn't give a damn about individuals and doesn't even pretend to (Republicans). Both parties have deep flaws, but one is about a hundred times worse than the other in the end result (as we see under Bush).

Voting Democratic will help pull back from this head-long rush to the bottom, and that's at least a start in the right direction.

Saying or implying that the two parties are EQUALY funded and owned by the same corporations and wealthy individuals who gain the most from outsourcing is just wrong, though. There's certainly some overlap, but it's like saying a medicine ball and a BB are "equal" because they're both round.

I do wish the Democratic party would be a bit more populist than it is. I can't stand the DLC wing of the party at this point ("Republican Lite") as I find it intellectually and morally bankrupt and weak-kneed. But that's just my opinion.

Cannot help but wonder...

[tushar]

With so many important events to pick from http://in.rediff.com/news/bush06.html - especially the nuclear pact - Slashdot chooses outsourcing as the "event to report".

Re:Comparative advantage, not surplus.

[Marxist Hacker 42]

If foreign countries export things to us without importing anything from us, then they've given us things for free.

Nope, it just means that they own us- and will kill you if you refuse to pay the debt when it comes due. They'd love to kill us off and resettle the United States to relieve their population stress. And they will eventually kick you out of your house to do it.

India doesn't have 29% unemployment--the actual figure is just 9%. And even that's exaggerated because many people in India have "unofficial" employment on the side.

That's not counting the Dahlits- who don't show up on India's employment numbers because they're not considered human.

China does not have 1/100th our minimum wage.

Then why does Wal*Mart get EVERYTHING in their stores from there?

The reason China and India have much lower wages is because their labor productivity is much lower. Right now, farming in India is done with a hand plow. Yes, you can produce 10x more than the Indian farmer because you have huge tractors--and that's precisely why your wage is 10x higher

What does that matter when there aren't enough jobs to go around right now? What does that matter to me? I'm tired of free traitors giving away my civil rights.