In The News

AFL-CIO Asks Penalties Against China

Stephen Franklin March 17, 2004
In the latest attack in the outsourcing debate, the AFL-CIO – America's largest and politically strongest union – seeks sanctions against China for allegedly having an "abusive, low-pay system that has cost thousands of American jobs". Using a trade law that has thus far only been used to protect American exports, the AFL-CIO is asking the government to cut trade with China in...

Where Are the Jobs? The Harsh Truth about Outsourcing

Paul Craig Roberts March 15, 2004
As the US struggles to deal with the political and economic fallout from the outsourcing of high-tech and manufacturing jobs overseas, many analysts have come down on all sides of the debate. Will America benefit in the end? Does the theory of "comparative advantage" hold true? Can the US find a niche that will allow it to replace the jobs lost and reverse wage declines? The answer,...

Expat Perks Drying Up - Even for S'poreans Abroad

Chuang Peck Ming March 9, 2004
Singaporeans are losing their 'edge' as professionals in a globalized world, but they still demand high expat salaries, reports this article. In China, employers of large companies favor Singaporeans for managerial positions because they speak English and Chinese fluently, and being Asians with working experience in western multinational companies, they "provide a good balance of...

Outlook: Outsourcing America's Future

Jodie Allen March 8, 2004
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...

Outsourcing Is Becoming a Harder Sell in the U.S.

Eduardo Porter March 6, 2004
While white-collar American workers fret over the possibility that their jobs will be outsourced and politicians call for more restrictions on offshoring, even some US business owners fear that outsourcing may ultimately be to their detriment. According to a recent study, 80 percent of senior executives believe that outsourcing is good for the global economy. Yet only 58 percent of American...

Small and Smaller

Thomas L. Friedman March 4, 2004
Falling transportation and telecommunications costs have taken the world from a "size large" to a "size small," according to New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist Thomas Friedman. But the most recent globalization phenomenon, he argues, has shrunk the world to a "size tiny." The worldwide proliferation of personal computers and the bandwidth and common software...

Moments Before the Union, "Old" Europe Gets Cold Feet

Shada Islam March 3, 2004
As Europe's leaders prepare for their expansion party, they fear immigrant gate-crashers. Shada Islam notes that widespread fears of immigrants flooding Western Europe in search of employment, welfare, and health benefits has forced many governments to enact restrictions to stem this supposed flood. But the facts prove that these fears are unfounded. Past history shows immigration slows once...