Offshoring. Who’s next?
Posted on March 28, 2007 by Richard Beddard
Filed Under Ramblings |
Mark Thoma, of Economist’s view, surmises a Wall Street Journal article reporting Alan S Blinder’s change of heart about offshoring. Professor Blinder is a Princeton acedemic and former adviser to President Clinton. Hitherto, the Journal reports, he’s held the conventional view (among economists) that all countries who participate benefit from free trade as each focuses on what it does best (its comparative advantage).
He still thinks that:
But he says the harm done when some lose jobs and others get them will be far more painful and disruptive than trade advocates acknowledge.
Mill workers, car assemblers and workers at the Burberry factory in Treorchy already know that of course, as they embark on new careers as call centre operatives or tourist guides. Could it be that the economists are feeling the pain for the first time, now the chickens are coming home to roost? Mr Blinder estimates that 30 to 40m US jobs are potentially offshorable. These among the ‘most vulnerable’:
- Actuaries (15,770 jobs)
- Economists (12,470 jobs)
- Bookeeping, accounting and auditing clerks (1,815,340 jobs)
- Financial Analysts (180,921 jobs)
To be fair to Professor Blinder, he’s not re-casting himself as a protectionist. Accepting the inevitability of globalisation, and its desirability in the round:
… Blinder says there’s an urgent need to retool America’s education system so it trains young people for jobs likely to remain in the U.S.
Divorce lawyers will be in more demand in the States than tax lawyers (who can work remotely). Civil engineering is a safer career choice than computer engineering…
Alternatively, Graeme is a UK Analyst who’s upped-sticks to Sri Lanka. I also know a UK actuary who’s started a business in South Africa. If you can’t beat them, join them.
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4 Responses to “Offshoring. Who’s next?”
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Rethinking Globalization.
The powers that be are starting to rethink the wisdom of globalization. Alan Binder thinks maybe 30 to 40 million white-collar jobs could be exported in the next decade or two, and thinks the government needs to “retool America’s education system so it trains young people for jobs likely to remain in the U.S.” and that “changes to the tax code should encourage employers to create jobs that are harder to perform overseas.” How about instead less government micromanaging, and more individual freedom? Can’t people think for themselves anymore? How about, for starters, getting rid of the income tax? That would do more than anything to boost enterprise in the U.S. Imagine the huge flow of investment into America resulting from that. Americans would breath a collective sigh of relief, and gain employment too. Also, this would eliminate the unfair advantage that imported goods enjoy. After all, no income tax is paid on profits earned from selling imported goods here. But then, we wouldn’t need so many economists like Alan Binder to tell the government what it should do. Legions of elitists would need to be retrained. Maybe a government program could be established to retrain them for more productive work.
see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117500805386350446.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
You hit the nail on the head by stating : If you can’t beat them, join them.
Going against Free Market is not the solution either for western nations or even offshoring countries.
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