Emmo wrote:

We just didn't know what the consequences were going to be...

Back in 1982, when I got out of business school as a newly minted MBA, it
was very clear to me that making textiles and shoes in lower cost countries
was the right thing to do for all kinds of reasons. Now, 23 years later,
having spent all that time in the software industry, I have fallen victim to
the same process.

I have been out of work for nearly two years. The software industry is
virtually dead in this country, unless you work for Microsoft. Just spoke
with a partner in a law firm that has started sending all of their
para-legal work to India as well. Tax returns are being processed there,
and insurance forms. I recently posted what to me is an amazing fact - there
are more English speakers in India than there are in the U.S., and many of
them are quite skilled in coding, tax, and legal work. There is a zero
incremental communications cost, and the time difference actually adds to
efficiencies, as the work is being done while we are sleeping, i.e. a day
faster than it could be done in the U.S., never mind the incredible cost
savings.

I am stuck. I have spent most of my savings from the good years, I am in
the process of selling my house, and I am searching for something else to do
for the next 16 years, (I am 51), until I can collect all that Social
Security that is waiting for me ha!...

I am a smart guy, but I see no way out for myself, nor for the country as a
whole... We are the next England... I certainly don't see any role for the
government in changing any of this, other than making things worse...





The problem is not specifically a global market of people willing to
work for lower wages, it also relates to the fact that overhead on those
wages is significantly lower. In the quest for short term profits, we
haven't adjusted duties and other penalties on imported goods to match
the costs the we impose on ourselves to work in the USA. Simple
examples are social security, workman's comp, OSHA requirements,
unemployment, and a minimum wage.

Most employeers will tell you off the cuff that a $ 10 per hour employee
actually costs more than $ 15 to cover these costs. Although there are
those who see an "every man for himself" state and want these costs to
go away, I personally believe they are suitable choices for a society.
We've been through times where you were a slave to a corporation due to
no safety net, safety issues weren't addressed and workers were
regurarly injured and just dumped, and senior citizens had nothing to
fall back on.

Step one would be to INCREASE duties to specifically cover these society
imposed costs relative to what is imposed in other countries. The
playing field is not anywhere near level when in addition to labor being
cheaper, you don't have to worry about safety, retirement, polluting,
unemployment, and a host of other things. Tough beans if our exports
are reduced. It's not about the short-run, it's about the long run.
Eventually either the imports will reduce also and producing our own
goods will take their place or the exporters in other countries will
just bite the bullet and acept a more even playing field.

Step two would be a single payer health care system. Yea, the right end
of the scale screams and yells about government control but it works
just fine and is CHEAPER in every country that does it. I have yet to
speak to anyone in a country with a single payer system that would give
it up for the supposed "freedom" of the US health care system.

Koz (who awaits the flamethrowers)