On 06/14/10 04:16 pm, Robert Green wrote:

Alan Blinder, a Princeton professor and former Federal Reserve vice
chairman, says it won't be surprising years from now if a carpenter in the
U.S. earns more than a college-educated computer operator. In fact, the data
suggest that education bears little relationship to jobs that are vulnerable
to offshoring, he says.

On balance, Blinder says, "there's little doubt a college education is a
good investment for most students."

But he offers this advice: "Don't train yourself or your children [in work]
that a computer can do or a smart kid in China or India can do. Because
that's ferocious competition."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...021,full.story

It's not even China or India we have to worry about now. Some of the
Taiwanese companies that set up factories in China because wages were
rising in Taiwan are now moving production to Vietnam, where wages are
lower still and the exchange rate to the US$ is more favorable. E.g.,
FoxConn (which I understand makes the iPad for Apple) now has factories
in Vietnam.

Employment, like water, flows downhill -- to the place that has the
lowest-paid sufficiently qualified workers.

Perce