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In an attempt to promote "insourcing," President Obama yesterday said he'll make tax proposals...
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Sunday, January 15, 2012, 4:52 AM ETIn an attempt to promote "insourcing," President Obama yesterday said he'll make tax proposals that will reward companies for bringing jobs home and investing in America, while he also reiterated his pledge to end breaks for companies that move jobs overseas. (video)
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this fellow is clueless
E
Outsourcing is just a way companies make their operations more efficient so as to compete. outsourcing leads to more jobs and more prosperity. not less.
On one level companies outsource all the time - they do this to find the most efficient way to do things - for example - Ford makes cars-but it does not make 100% of every car it sells - it uses any number of outside firms to help it put together the best combination of inputs - from design to components to transportation - even the sales and service process can be considered a form of outsourcing - some of those firms are located in Michigan others are in the rest of the country and still others are located overseas.
If you mandate that they cannot outsource anything to any third party - boy would the Unions love that - you end up with a less efficient and more expenssive vehicle - ultimately they sell less cars and if they need to cut back production or go out of business - you lose all the "protected" jobs. Self defeating.
Sometime companies keep it internal but outsource the tasks to another country. The principle here is the same. If Ford can get a better cost structure by outsourcing it will help the whole. Generally the jobs or tasks that are located elsewhere will be lower value added and less critical. They are generally lower pay and lower skill. Forcing them or penalizing them to bring these back will only make them less competitive and reduce the number of higher paying, more skilled jobs. Also self defeating.
Interference in the way companies do their business. Distorting tax schemes that reward less efficency are self defeating.
Government - has a role and that role is to ensure the conditons for growth are in place. One element that is sorely lacking at the moment is quality education - one fo the main reasons for incomes not rising and poverty is the skill gap that is now in place and widening. A lot of this is due to the poor quality of high schools. and most of this can be laid at the feet of the teacher's unions. Focus there. Fix this and the payoff in terms of productivity and employment will be significant. Don't waste time with nonsense statism that is only designed to appeal the lowest common denominator.
A lot of jobs are gone and are not coming back - nor do you want them back. They are low paying and dead ends. What you need is a way to prepare people for the future. Not the past.
E
So the logic holds that we have had outsourcing thus we should have more jobs and more prosperity yet reality is exactly the opposite.
"A lot of jobs are gone and are not coming back - nor do you want them back. They are low paying and dead ends. What you need is a way to prepare people for the future. Not the past."
I would think the 9% -18% unemployed would be happy to have some of those jobs. Life must look pretty good from that Ivory tower you are looking down at all of us from...
Another point I would like to make though is that are you truly sure that the 9%-18% of unemployed people would like those jobs? Let's face it Americans are picky when it comes to jobs and with the way that unemployment benefits are these days I believe many of these people are fine not working in a factory or doing a manufacturing job that got outsourced.
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So WHEN do you think our country will get around to preparing people for the future?
Does this preparation apply to older people (say over 40) or will it only be for those in their teens to early 20's?
And what do we do with all the current displaced workers, some of whom have been unemployed for years now and some who are now living on the streets?
You're right in saying that education is key. But, Americans suffer from an anti-intellectual streak and a fear of government. Will money be spent on "government" schools with "unionized" teachers? Other countries are quickly winning the education race. Americans, it seems to me, are busily waging the race to maximum personal liberty. Winning the wrong race will lead to inferior results for American society even if it leads to a repeat of the Gilded Age for the winners, safely ensconced in their mansions and gated communities.
As far as education goes, our society no longer sees a high school diploma as being entry level into the job market for anything other than the lowest level in the service sector with some exceptions. If a person doesn't get at least a bachelors degree, they are condemning themselves to a lifetime of low wages. And not any bachelors degree is sufficient. A person's education should be in concert with demand.
This is a near impossible society we live in with the majority of families living on two incomes and then try and raise a family at the same time. Add to that the commitment of time to instill in our children these concepts of societal expectations, incomes, and career guidance and where do parents find this time. Expecting schools to do the parent's job is a reneging on a parent's responsibilities. What a paradox we live - a kind of pain that tortures the soul.
Should we stop outsourcing, we are condemning ourselves to a much lower standard of living for one, for another we would be killing the job market we do have because we Americans would not pay the kind of prices something made solely in the USA would demand, not in a global competitive environment. A catch-22, damned if we do, damned if we don't.
I would not blame the education system without bringing parents into the equation as well, and I would not blame outsourcing without bringing into the equation a person's standard of living, and the only reason I would turn to government is that we are taxed so heavily that a family has to have a dual income to have the most basic needs met which causes our families to pay the consequences.
There are no easy solutions, but there are solutions.
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So what are the solutions????
Even today, with all sorts of Federal Reserve tricks to increase money supply, those who have it (Republicans call them the job providers) prefer to sit on their cash even at low interest rates.