Differentiating between outsourcing and offshoring
Chuck Simmins makes an important distinction (link via Glenn Reynolds): Most outsourced jobs don’t go to India. They stay right here in the good, old U.S.A. That clerk from Accountemps or secretary from Kelly. That RN at your hospital. The cleaning crew in your office. Outsourced jobs. That’s why I worry as the rants go ...
Chuck Simmins makes an important distinction (link via Glenn Reynolds):
Chuck Simmins makes an important distinction (link via Glenn Reynolds):
Most outsourced jobs don’t go to India. They stay right here in the good, old U.S.A. That clerk from Accountemps or secretary from Kelly. That RN at your hospital. The cleaning crew in your office. Outsourced jobs. That’s why I worry as the rants go on and on about the evils of outsourcing. For the few jobs that go overseas, the correction potentially stands to bite a whole bunch of good people here in the United States. Most outsourcing is done in the United States and Americans work for outsourcing firms.
He also criticizes those on the right who complain about “offshoring” which is outsourcing done overseas:
The discussion is about outsourcing jobs overseas. I see many conservatives and libertarians abandoning their principles here to oppose the transfer of any jobs overseas. “Good” jobs are being sent overseas. “Good” is code for high paying jobs. And the hidden yet primary argument is that Americans deserve to have high paying jobs, no matter what the circumstances. I understand unions pushing this point, but I don’t understand the many conservatives and libertarians who are. Job entitlement is not a conservative nor a libertarian position. And that is what the argument about outsourcing overseas boils down to; “we” are entitled to those jobs.
Simmins is conflating libertarians and conservatives on this issue. The former are free market advocates and the latter are economic nationalists. Economic nationalists value social stability and relative gains more than maximizing either static or dynamic economic efficiency. With this set of preferences, it’s not surprising to see this group of pundits ract bash offshoring.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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