Most of the job loss is from offshoring, not the recession

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/most-job-loss-offshoring-not-recession

Submitted by Robert Oak on Sat, 03/06/2010 - 13:42 Fritz HollingsInsourcing/Outsourcingpolicy

Most of the job loss is from off-shoring, not the recession.

I point to an editorial on the Huffington Post by Sen. Fritz Hollings. He's calling out D.C. and saying Washington is plain committing fraud on job creation by refusing to address trade and global labor arbitrage.

An important part of the job fraud is to make the people feel like the loss of jobs is due to the recession, not off-shoring. Long before the recession, South Carolina lost its textile industry; North Carolina lost its furniture industry; Detroit its automobile industry, and California its computer industry, etc. President Obama wants to increase exports, but we have nothing to export. Today, the United States has the export profile of an eighteenth century colony, with the only value-added products exported being chemicals, agriculture and airplanes. Last week, the Wall Street Journal announced that the largest chemical producer in the United States was off-shoring. Most of the job loss is from off-shoring, not the recession. But Washington acts as if nothing can be done to limit the off-shoring and protect our economy.

Globalization has developed into a trade war with production looking for the cheapest country to produce, with fierce competition for industry and jobs. Necessarily, every country has developed an industrial policy in this competition to protect its economy.

One can see the truth that job loss is not just this recession, but a long steady decline caused by global labor arbitrage. Just look at the total number of jobs in a particular occupational category over a decade. For one example, see this graph on information services jobs.

[2Design]

1. job gains are all military or military related - we don't do jobs anymore except gov't

[DJ13]

2. Blaming the recession supports the GOP

Telling the truth that its outsourcing as the cause blames the GOP due to the Bush years.

So guess which version of the story is the one repeated daily by the MSM.......

[madrchsod]

3. the two union jobs i had in the steel working industry....

went overseas, first one went to south korea and india and the second went to china....

[stray cat]

4. The loss in public jobs, construction,etc are due to homes moving offshore?

[w4rma]

5. Public jobs are paid for with taxes. The tax revinue has dropped because everyones' jobs

have been sent overseas or we are all competing with some near-slave.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Who was buying the houses that construction workers were building here?

It was the same people who have had their jobs off shored who used to be the ones buying those houses.

Now instead of those people paying into our social programs and buying houses they are now unemployed and dependent on social programs for their survival.

Is this really all that complicated?

Don

[IndyPragmatist]

8. Outsourcing and offshoring arent inherently bad

It's just a result of globalization. Protectionism may keep jobs in the USA for the short term, but we need to focus on long term health. If we cannot compete in certain sectors of the global economy, it doesn't make sense for us to participate. We need to focus on what we have absolute and competitive advantages in. We grew as an industrial nation, but we are entering a post-industrial economy. If we keep trying to subsidize inefficient industries and companies, we will be in worse shape down the road. Now is the perfect time to focus on investing in new technology that will be the fuel for our economy of the future, not the economy of the last 50 years.

[NNN0LHI]

11. Well lets start by offshoring or outsourcing your job then

Let us know know how that works out for you.

Don

[gmoney]

9. An economy so dependent on home construction is unsustainable, IMHO

We need to figure out something else to generate economic activity and create jobs and add to GDP.

McMansions and military spending won't cut it any longer.

[w8liftinglady]

7. excellent comment..Make that your mission...

let the people know exactly how many...which companies...where they went...how much profit the companies are making...effect of outsourcing on Child Workers...there is a plethora of facts out there.

[kentuck]

10. This should be the issue for the next election...

starting as of today.