Outsourcing: A Policy Agenda

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Outsourcing: A Policy Agenda
5
Wed, 05-19-2004 - 7:00pm
I discovered this article in "Foreign Policy in Focus," although it is lenghty, it is bulleted. I have excerpted the bullets and a couple of paragraphs to tie the points together. For those who want more information here's the cite:

http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol9/v9n02outsource.html

Outsourcing: A Policy Agenda

By Sarah Anderson and John Cavanagh

Forrester Research estimates that about 40 percent of Fortune 1,000 firms have already outsourced some work and that at least another 3 million service jobs will leave the United States by 2015, led by information technology work. A study by the University of California, Berkeley estimates that 14 million U.S. jobs (11 percent of the total work force) are vulnerable to being outsourced.

Key Points

· Although the number of U.S. service jobs lost to outsourcing is currently small relative to the total work force, the fear of a seemingly limitless loss of jobs to lower-wage countries has caused widespread anxiety.

· U.S. companies dominate global services outsourcing, and India is the top developing-country destination.

· National and state legislators have introduced a flurry of anti-outsourcing bills, but corporations are mounting a strong counter-attack.

Key Problems

· The Bush administration argues that tax cuts and deregulation will prevent U.S. firms from exporting jobs, even though U.S. regulations are weaker and corporate tax rates are lower than those in most other industrial nations.

· Senator Kerry’s proposals to end tax subsidies for outsourcing are positive but are unlikely to significantly reduce the lure of cheap labor.

· Kerry’s promises to change trade policy and incorporate labor rights are important, but they would be more effective as part of a broader development strategy.

Key Recommendations

· The U.S. government should ensure that tax, government procurement and subsidy policies are instruments for supporting good U.S. jobs.

· Washington should promote internationally recognized labor rights and an end to trade and finance policies that contribute to the destruction of small-scale agriculture and the privatization of social services.

· The U.S. should work with other rich nations to advance more effective debt reduction and development aid mechanisms.

In short, a comprehensive response to corporate outsourcing requires a sea change in the outlook of both the U.S. public and its politicians toward America’s role in the world. Just as Americans are less secure when much of the world is plagued by extreme poverty, inequality and instability, worker exploitation overseas translates into exploited workers and less secure jobs at home. The electoral debate over outsourcing offers an opportunity to create a new policy approach that combines solidarity with self-interest in a whole-scale effort to benefit the entire world.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Thu, 05-20-2004 - 8:09pm

Excellent article!


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 05-21-2004 - 11:35am

>"Just as Americans are less secure when much of the world is plagued by extreme poverty, inequality and instability, worker exploitation overseas translates into exploited workers and less secure jobs at home."<


I think the above quote is key.


Global companies have been in operation for decades. Recently the push has been for profit by exploitation

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Fri, 05-21-2004 - 1:53pm
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ITA workers rights and environmental protections. Unfortunately, corporations are dictating the terms, and governments abstain. It does take time for people to catch up with corporations.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Fri, 05-21-2004 - 2:02pm
<>

My mantra: It is good that US companies can export prosperity, but it must also export the regulations that keep workers from being exploited. This is difficult, because employees in India will not feel exploited by low wages and poor working conditions because they are so much better than what they had. In the meantime, workers in the US will pay the price and corporations will rake in the excess incomes. IMO, the US will lose some of it's economic equality with a growing gap between rich and poor. Given the current politics, the government isn't going to step in to mediate the fall from the middle class.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 05-21-2004 - 2:28pm

Ref.

 


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