More cost savings from protectionism

It seems that California is not the only state that is coming to grips with the costs that come from outlawing offshore outsourcing. The AP’s Allen Breed reports that in the wake of efforts to block the offshore outsourcing of government contracts, some state legislatures don’t like the pricey hangover: Governors and legislators in two-thirds ...

By , 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.

It seems that California is not the only state that is coming to grips with the costs that come from outlawing offshore outsourcing. The AP's Allen Breed reports that in the wake of efforts to block the offshore outsourcing of government contracts, some state legislatures don't like the pricey hangover:

It seems that California is not the only state that is coming to grips with the costs that come from outlawing offshore outsourcing. The AP’s Allen Breed reports that in the wake of efforts to block the offshore outsourcing of government contracts, some state legislatures don’t like the pricey hangover:

Governors and legislators in two-thirds of the states have ordered or proposed antioutsourcing actions. But many of those efforts at “economic patriotism” have run headlong into another time-honored American tradition: taxpayers’ demands that the government give them the most bang for their buck…. When Kansas officials learned that food stamp questions were being answered by workers in India under a contract with an Arizona company, state senators added language to the budget requiring the work be done in the United States. But the language was deleted when negotiators learned it would boost the state’s costs by $640,000, about 38 percent.

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

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.