In The News

Debt Collection Done From India Appeals to US Agencies

Heather Timmons May 2, 2008
Making calls to remind borrowers about unpaid debts isn’t easy – and so it’s a natural job for outsourcing. With a sluggish US economy, there’s plenty of calls that need to be made, and debt collection represents growth for outsourcing firms, reports Heather Timmons for the New York Times. India has become a favorite source for debt-collection services because of low costs, automated systems and...

America for Sale: 2 Outcomes When Foreigners Buy Factories

Peter S. Goodman April 16, 2008
The debate over globalization’s effects on the US economy has become a focal point of the presidential campaign. Outsourcing jobs is a major concern of voters, and with good reason. In Michigan alone, as New York Times’ writer Peter Goodman notes, more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost to foreign competition during the last eight years. Yet globalization encourages foreign investment...

No Break for Globalization

Nayan Chanda March 25, 2008
With unemployment and foreclosures skyrocketing, trade deficit woes, more and more Americans are becoming protectionist. Most Americans agree that foreign trade is reducing the demand for American-made goods, resulting in numerous job losses. While there is no question that trade has played a role in shrinking manufacturing jobs, Nayan Chanda points out that "it is only a minor part of the...

Guess Who's Getting the Most Work Visas

Moira Herbst March 17, 2008
Since 1990, the US has issued a set number of H-1B visas by lottery to attract talented science, technology and math professionals from around the world to its universities, research centers and companies. Increasing numbers of applications, however, combined with strict caps and a lottery system prevent many foreign professionals from entering the US workforce. A federal report points out that...

Offshoring Spreads Its Wings

Kate O'Sullivan March 5, 2008
So far outsourcing has not been a big issue in the US presidential campaign because US voters and workers have accustomed themselves to the fact that companies look for skilled and low-wage workers all over the globe. The rate of companies reporting a reliance on offshore hires, more than 35 percent in all, has more than doubled since 2004, and the rate is even higher among the largest companies...

The Lure of Protectionism in Ohio

Susan Froetschel, Morgan Robinson March 3, 2008
Ohio, part of the country’s Rust Belt, was a swing state in the 2004 US presidential election, and the state’s voters will play a big role deciding the 2008 Democratic nominee and probably the next president of the United States. Their choice might set the US agenda for global economy. As one of the country’s leading manufacturing states, Ohio suffers as companies shift factory jobs to low-wage...

Globalization “A Blessing” for West Europe

Chris Giles February 29, 2008
Globalization – by way of trade and off-shoring jobs – can eliminate inefficiency and add to the total number of jobs, reports the European Economic Advisory Group, an academic research group organized by the Ifo Institute in Munich. “Although the gains from trade have the side-effect of increasing inequality, the group recommends that governments avoid policies that try to preserve employment...