Now it’s a depression
A few years ago, the Economist reworded an old aphorism: When your neighbour loses his job it’s a slowdown; when you lose yours, it’s a recession; when an economic journalist loses his, that’s a depression. If this New York Times report is accurate, expect to hear a lot of depression talk from Reuters: Outsourcing has ...
A few years ago, the Economist reworded an old aphorism:
A few years ago, the Economist reworded an old aphorism:
When your neighbour loses his job it’s a slowdown; when you lose yours, it’s a recession; when an economic journalist loses his, that’s a depression.
If this New York Times report is accurate, expect to hear a lot of depression talk from Reuters:
Outsourcing has become all the rage in recent years, and India has become a favorite destination for Western companies that want to send jobs to cheaper markets. Companies as different as Delta Air Lines and Dell Computer have hired workers or subcontractors to perform customer service, data entry or other computer-related jobs once done in the United States. Now, Reuters is going a step further. It told its editorial employees in an electronic posting late last week that it planned to hire six journalists in Bangalore, India, to do basic financial reporting on 3,000 small to medium-size American companies. “It’s a place where you can get people who understand English, understand financial statements, understand journalism and who are educated to a very high standard and eager to do this kind of work,” David Schlesinger, global managing editor of Reuters, said in a telephone interview. They are also relatively inexpensive, he added…. In the message to employees about the journalism project, which will deal with companies Reuters does not cover regularly now, Mr. Schlesinger did not rule out expanding the project. “I’ll keep you informed as how this develops,” he wrote. “This could be a very exciting way to get more news on our wires in a more efficient way.” (emphasis added)
Given the underlined passage, it probably won’t generate many complaints, since the idea is to get greater coverage for less money.
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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