Outlook: Outsourcing America’s Future

Most economists - including American ones - argue that in the long run, outsourcing makes sense both for business and society. In this online discussion, Jodie Allen, Managing Editor of US News & World Report, challenges this long held economic assumption. While recognizing some of the positive aspects of outsourcing (e.g., cheaper consumer goods), she points to a recent US Labor Department report, which found 21,000 new jobs were added in February – about a tenth of what had been expected. What's worse, she says, the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries is not expected to slow down anytime soon – a report from Goldman Sachs predicts that several million more American jobs will be offshored in the next several years. To respond to this, she says, "it would be healthy both for our fiscal situation and our public discourse if more of our leaders took honest note of the many things -- from safe neighborhoods, good schools, open spaces, clean air and pure water to national security itself -- that you still can't buy at Wal-Mart." What sort of new jobs, she asks, can America create that cannot be outsourced? – YaleGlobal