In The News

Outsourcing Debate - Part III

David Dapice March 1, 2004
Despite the political debates over outsourcing that are emerging in this US presidential election year, the economic story is quite simple. In the final installment of a three-part series on outsourcing, economist David Dapice says that outsourcing allows hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries like Vietnam the chance to earn wages, pull themselves out of poverty, and - in turn...

Outsourcing Debate - Part II

Nayan Chanda February 27, 2004
The outsourcing of white-collar jobs to India and other low-cost countries has become a sensitive issue for US voters. In the second article of a three-part series on outsourcing, YaleGlobal Editor Nayan Chanda makes the case that America's economic fears about outsourcing are driving politics this election year. Chanda observes that "blue-collar workers, long wary of outsourcing, have...

Trade Is Not Bad For US Jobs

Martin Wolf February 24, 2004
Financial Times Senior Economist Martin Wolf defends outsourcing as a means for companies to improve productivity, just as free trade benefits businesses by giving them access to cheaper goods from the developing world. He argues that the only reason politicians are railing against free trade, instead of praising gains from innovation and productivity, is because they can use foreigners as...

Meet the Zippies

Thomas L. Friedman February 22, 2004
Wearing clothes other than the traditional Indian outfits, India's youth of today have become the first generation in the country to welcome global trade and the western jobs that come with it "with a zip in the stride." In this column in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman shows us the "zippies" phenomenon in India's many big cities like Bangalore. With 54% of the...

U.S. Payrolls Change Lives in Bangalore

SARITHA RAI February 22, 2004
As more and more Indian youths pour into the country's big cities like Bangalore to find jobs outsourced from the developed world, they are earning more and are becoming increasingly influenced by western culture. With 54% of country's population under the age of 25, says this article, the gradual cultural change of this generation is likely to lead changes to the larger Indian society...

Staring Into the Mouth of the Trade Deficit

Elizabeth Becker February 21, 2004
Five years ago, the Northwestern city of Seattle made news when anti-globalization protests shut down a meeting of the World Trade Organization. Now, the city is back in the center of a national storm over trade imbalances and job loss. Seattle, the most trade-dependent city in the United States, earns more per capita from trade than any other area in the country. Yet with the US trade deficit at...

Edwards Notes Differences on Issue of World Trade

Katherine Q. Seelye February 20, 2004
As the race for the US Democratic Party's presidential nomination narrows down to just two candidates – Senators John Edwards and John Kerry – a significant change in strategy is underway. Both candidates, clearly capitalizing on public sentiment stemming from the loss of US jobs to overseas competition, are attacking international trade agreements and generally siding with US labor leaders...