The whirl of global trade
by henrycopelandThursday, February 26th, 2004
Thomas Friedman visits a company in India that handles work sent from the US. Aren’t you stealing jobs from the US, he asks an an Indian manager?
Well, he answered patiently, “look around this office.” All the computers are from Compaq. The basic software is from Microsoft. The phones are from Lucent. The air-conditioning is by Carrier, and even the bottled water is by Coke, because when it comes to drinking water in India, people want a trusted brand. On top of all this, says Mr. Nagarajan, 90 percent of the shares in 24/7 are owned by U.S. investors. This explains why, although the U.S. has lost some service jobs to India, total exports from U.S. companies to India have grown from $2.5 billion in 1990 to $4.1 billion in 2002. What goes around comes around, and also benefits Americans.
(Via Outside the beltway.)
February 27th, 2004 at Feb 27, 04 | 3:29 pm
As someone who faces the very real possibility of having his career affected by outsourcing, I’m not sure I can take such a dispassionate view. Plus, while the phones are from Lucent, they’re probably manufactured overseas. Ditto the air conditioner (or a large part of its components), the computers, etc. So it seems to me that rather than creating US jobs, we’re creating revenue for US companies who may or may not use that revenue for jobs. Hmmm - I’m a CEO who just saved $1 billion in outsourcing. Will I create new jobs or pour it into stock options and executive bonuses? Hmm, hmm, hmm - what do do, what to do…
teebee
February 27th, 2004 at Feb 27, 04 | 3:32 pm
I notice we need to sign in now in order to comment on posts. Something new?
teebee
February 27th, 2004 at Feb 27, 04 | 4:13 pm
I hear you. Just noticed that Tom Tomorrow makes a similar point here: http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2004_02_22.html#001362
The new signin requirement is my attempt to keep the Casino spammers out of the comments. So much for utopianism.
February 28th, 2004 at Feb 28, 04 | 11:10 pm
More jobs are created in a real market economy with less regulation. The main goal for the U.S. companies should be to increase their profit margin. Free trade is the moral and practical way of doing business. You follow the trader principle by trading value for value. It is a correct statement to say: “What goes around comes around.”
If you are interested in global trade, take the Capitalism Visual Tour.
Martin Lindeskog - American in Spirit.
Gothenburg, Sweden (a.k.a. the socialist “paradise”).