Economics anyone?

[alexava 6,974]

I need to write a speech(argumentative/persuasive) against outsourcing. or regurgitate one already well written well cited research paper from you brilliant folks. help fast.

[fjenkins 0]

Outsourcing or offshoring?

I'm in favor of outsourcing, offshoring not so much.

[4AUsince62 10]

If nobody here has a job who will buy your product? We are gluttons for new things, not to mention as the standard and cost of living goes up so will the wages or people will go elsewhere. China is the new India and many are moving back because of the cost of living in the cities. But then again, I'm blue collar, what the #ell do I know? 

[fjenkins 0]

If nobody here has a job who will buy your product? We are gluttons for new things, not to mention as the standard and cost of living goes up so will the wages or people will go elsewhere. China is the new India and many are moving back because of the cost of living in the cities. But then again, I'm blue collar, what the #ell do I know? 

That's offshoring.  Outsourcing is just bringing in another company to handle in-house tasks more efficiently than what's available from the in-house employees.

Here's a "dirty little not-so-secret",  the federal government, by & large, runs on outsourcing.

[4AUsince62 10]

If nobody here has a job who will buy your product? We are gluttons for new things, not to mention as the standard and cost of living goes up so will the wages or people will go elsewhere. China is the new India and many are moving back because of the cost of living in the cities. But then again, I'm blue collar, what the #ell do I know? 

That's offshoring.  Outsourcing is just bringing in another company to handle in-house tasks more efficiently than what's available from the in-house employees.

Here's a "dirty little not-so-secret",  the federal government, by & large, runs on outsourcing.

That’s what I was referring to. I think a lot of people consider outsourcing and offshoring the same due to the Movie and now the TV show so back to your original question....Outsourcing or offshoring?

[alexava 6,974]

I consider offshoring the extreme type of outsourcing. Domestic ooutsourcing is done for many reasons and not just to slash costs. Offshoring is the byproduct of the greed that is extinguishing the middle class that i am trying to hang on to. Free trade, comparative advantage, protectionism all principles that we have to reassign meaning to. The game has changed and the rules need to change as well.

[bird36 5]

I heard a report on NPR which said if the I-Pad was made in the U.S. it would cost $2,000 to produce.  If you are having a debate I would be ready to answer this kind of statement.   

[telling tiger 156]

Offshoring is the most likely issue at hand, domestic outsourcing can lead to business opportunity for the people willing to go after it. Some economic adjustment is inevitable for the individual as product,demand and any other number of business elements change. The change is inevitable. You used to have 3  broadcast TV channels and one public channel. No one can argue that the growth didn't create additional opportunity while it also created change.

The following is a recommended reading list from the Stanford University Economic Department for just one area of offshoring, the IT industry. Many of the principals can be applied easily to other business areas. Taxes, labor cost, insurance cost, domestic effects and many others are universal. The vast majority of these are without political bent and are informational.

http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs201/projects/offshoring/biblio.html

[alexava 6,974]

thanks for the link TT. i have seen some of those articles almost all the articles i find on this are dated 02-04. most of the later links i find are premium sites.

bird35, cost is part of the debate. I see no way possible the PRODUCTION of a small electronic device costs 2k. R & D costs out the arse but after that you reset the counter and start from scratch in calculating production costs. pro-outsourcers (which seem to be conservaitives now) will make any argument they can to justify their side's immoral and short sighted greed. im not referring to you with that statement but who you heard that report from.

besides nik-naks on the dollar store shelves and a few other extremely cheap junk, cost (consumer price) is derived from demand not cost of production. im not totally against any outsourcing at all, but it is getting out of hand and the companies seem oblivious to the damage they are doing to the middle class, which is their consumer base, and how much they are empowering and building the knowledge base of the world we are competing against. It reminds me of the recent mortgage collapse. Most involved KNEW the lack of regulation was not a good thing but were making so much dam $$ they didn't care about what was sure to happen.

[AUTUmike 79]

Assuming offshoring has occurred for purposes of cheaper production costs, then factually the money saved by consumers will exceed the foregone wages of domestic laborers. However, this is also only assuming that trade barriers are absent or minimal.

IMO the arguments against offshoring are typically weak. I agree that products critical to the defense of a country (and in some cases medicine and health) should be produced domestically. However, if we're talking about something like a television then I see no economic argument against offshoring it's production if it will lower the price to consumers.

I guess you could argue that when the dollar is weak then those products produced abroad and imported are relatively more expensive...but that, too, seems a little contrived since the counter argument could easily be made. Good luck!

[alexava 6,974]

when almost all tvs are made offshore that cancels out and the price is decided by demand. I think trade barriers are almost absent with exception of steel. what purposes other than cost would justify offshoring? i dont have time now but will discuss trade barriers later.

[telling tiger 156]

In some instances there are arguments to be made that producers and manufacturers price products according to what the market can bear as opposed to free market/open market concepts. Pharmaceuticals would be one of the prime examples of that. American consumers seem to bear the cost of research and development while prices in other WESTERNIZED countries are not as steep as they are here. Obviously many factors are involved in that, such as wages, supply chain cost, supply chain layers, prescribing chain/end supplier cost. BUT........some companies are all too willing to allow some cultures(insert your name here) to pay more to allow a lesser cost entry to additional markets.

If as individuals we were that business, of course, it would be a good idea. As the end consumers or employee, of course, we will not see it that way.

In economics , the culture is slower to adapt than the business world is. The business world sets the trend and the legal/law/legislative world adapts rather than sets the pace. Consider the newer media and the pace of technology. Laws have been extremely slow forming in response to some of the social changes that come with it. Given time, the west, particularly America will adapt to some of the changes in a regulatory manner. For the middle class, that can be a painful wait. While trying not to be political, I'll phrase this as gently as possible. The American public could use a lobbyist on K Street as most businesses have. They have the advantage. In every way possible.

While I disagree with some of the things said in the civil comments posted here, the issue is so multi-layered there are certainly points to both sides of the discussion. Classic example of the need for compromise instead of extreme one sided partisanship.

[alexava 6,974]

well said