Unknown. "The Global Scramble for Cheap Labor." Time. The Time Inc. Magazine Company, 21 Sept. 1970. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
This article spoke about workers and consumers in developed countries benefit from cheap labor in underdeveloped countries. It makes the prices of goods cheaper and most economists predict it will increase productivity and income in developed nations. The article also argues that this not only offers jobs to people in underdeveloped countries but also helps them acquire skills that they could not get from home-owned industries.
Otterman, Sharon. "TRADE: Outsourcing Jobs." Council on Foreign Affairs (2004). Web. 2 Mar. 2011. <http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/trade-outsourcing-jobs/p7749>.
Otterman speaks about moving U.S. businesses to lower-wage countries to cut operating costs, also known as outsourcing. She states outsourcing leads to layoffs for thousands of U.S. workers, but most economists argue it will eventually strengthen the U.S. economy. Otterman also states that although outsourcing hurts the U.S. and its citizens it saves companies 30-70% in costs. Many people and economists blame outsourcing for the way our economy is today. Outsourcing not only takes jobs from the U.S. it also prevents new ones from being made. On the other hand Otterman also made the point to say outsourcing is just another form of free trade which increases wealth in the economy. Outsourcing ultimately allows companies to manufacture goods at a cheaper cost which makes the products cheaper when they come to the U.S.
Hira, Ron, and Anil Hira. Outsourcing America: What's behind Our National Crisis and How We Can Reclaim American Jobs. New York: American Management Association, 2005. Print.
This book had a lot of helpful information ranging from the potential impacts of outsourcing to what we can do about outsourcing. What I found to be the most helpful was when the author Ron Hira spoke about the affects it has on our country. He raised the point that outsourcing is not just a trend but is a major part of the changes we see in our economy. Outsourcing determines how we run our economy and determines our standard of living. Many politicians will argue that outsourcing is just a form of cheap trade when really it forces U.S. workers to compete for their jobs. The author also argues that it is not a fair competition because foreign workers can afford to be paid less because their cost of living is lower. Hira also looked at a bigger picture on outsourcing. He made the point that although outsourcing allows us to have cheaper products here overall it takes away our jobs. When people don’t have jobs they don’t have money to buy those goods, provide retirement savings to banks or pension funds to invest in new companies.
Blunden, Bill. Offshoring IT: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2004. Print.
I liked this book because it spoke about why outsourcing can be beneficial. The author, Bill Blunden speaks about why outsourcing is not only bad like most Americans see it, but good. I found this would be helpful for me in my research because I want to talk about outsourcing from the companies’ point of view and the U.S. citizen’s point of view. Blunden, like most of the authors I have used in my research argued that the motivation for outsourcing is cost savings. Why would a company want to pay an American software employee $61,000 a year when you can pay a worker in India a fraction of the cost? On the other hand he argues that it is a security risk, one big risk being sending confidential information overseas is at greater risk of being exposed. One other thing he brought up that I found interesting was, the money that is being saved can be used for research and development. The more research the more the companies can innovate and improve. He also made the point that outsourcing produces an increase in demand for goods and services in the U.S., because outsourcing requires telecommunication equipment, computers, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment