An Independent Study on Offshoring IT? 642
vsprintf writes "What are the real effects of offshoring on the U.S. technology sector? Pick your economist on the subject. The Bush administration's Gregory Mankiw says it's all good, and exporting jobs is just a new way to do trade. In Congressional testimony, Ralph Gomory says a little bit is okay, but too much is bad, while Herman Daly says it's just plain bad. The ITAA's paid mouthpiece, Harris Miller, says it must be good because IT workers in India wear Nike tennis shoes. At last, it appears the IEEE-USA has persuaded Congress to pay for an independent study to determine how offshoring really affects U.S. IT."
Re:The race for the bottom (Score:2, Informative)
An other idea would be (this just a personal opinion): most probably the lowest quality (e.g. untalented) workers will be fired first, so what we see is a bunch of people who demand money for their very few merits.
Re:Mankiw is such a hypocrite (Score:5, Informative)
For an economically-informed discussion of outsouring, see this article [foreignaffairs.org] by Daniel Drezner [danieldrezner.com].
Re:The fallacy (Score:2, Informative)
Speaking as a non-American, it seems to me that the problem is not outsourcing (as there seems to be more or less a general agreement that it makes the US as a whole wealthier), but an improper distribution of wealth. Perhaps you should consult your neighbours up north on how they've kept the playing field a bit more level.
Re:The fallacy (Score:3, Informative)
PC's didn't become mass-consumables until they started being largely made overseas (except for the processors). There would have been much fewer computer programming jobs without offshoring.
The economic arguments for free trade are sound and they are pretty much laws at this point. When an industry is offshored, it's cost to consumers is generally lowered. Not only that but that creates a whole new class of middle-class consumers.
In the end, it is my belief that offshoring will at some point generate a whole new slew of new computer jobs, but they just may not be the kind we had before.
Re:There is an entire world out there (Score:2, Informative)
My own country, Sweden, devastatingly poor back then (even poorer if you go slightly further back in time), very prosperous today.
All countries have had the problems described in post 10167613 [slashdot.org], if you just go back two or three hundred years. They have been solved, they can be solved. It's a matter of development.
Re:Pay for an independent study...? (Score:2, Informative)
The GAO (General Accounting Office) conducts nothing BUT independent surveys...anytime they audit or report. And NOBODY likes their results, because it generally concludes contradictory to all political benefit. So, both sides hate them.
If you want a more true picture of anything, just get the GAO to Audit/Study it. They seemingly execute independent of the President and Congress, even though operating under auspices of Congress.
That would be a kick, have the GAO audit/report on MS and monopoly...wow.