Daniel Griswold recently wrote an article for NR pro-outsourcing. Following are letters to the NR editor along with Griswold's reply (insert your own National Lampoon joke here). Personally, my heart has been inclined towards saving U.S. jobs (I've never bought a foreign-made car though now that's somewhat academic since U.S. cars are made mostly from foreign parts), while my head says that is nonsensical: free trade benefits everyone involved. India is experiencing a small financial boom due in part to American outsourcing and that's a good thing, as Martha might say.
From NRO:
I find two faults with Daniel Griswold's argument for outsourcing ("Outsource, Outsource, and Outsource Some More," May 3). First, outsourcing jobs does have a negative impact on low-skilled workers. Mr. Griswold seems to assume that there are types of work only Americans can perform profitably, and which low-skilled workers can be retrained to do. But it may not be the case that today's low-skilled workers are capable of such a switch.
Second, virtually any job, white- or blue-collar, can be done more cheaply abroad than in the U.S. — if not now, then certainly in the future. Mr. Griswold argues that so far we have not lost that many jobs to outsourcing, but what is now a trickle may become a river if the economic logic behind outsourcing becomes the fashion in all our major industries. --Barton L. Ingraham Santa Fe, N.M.
Griswold makes a convincing argument that foreign outsourcing is not a bad thing — and is quite possibly a good thing. But he exposes a faulty assumption when he says: "IT companies are increasingly outsourcing thankless jobs — routine programming, data entry, and system monitoring — abroad." There is really no such thing as "routine programming." We have not yet advanced to a point where programming can be performed by anyone but a highly educated, experienced person. The construction of a software project is still a creative endeavor, more art than science.
Thus the jobs that are being exported in this field generally require a college degree and/or substantial work experience, and are very much in demand by highly trained professionals. If this foreign outsourcing is to have the effect of producing higher-level jobs at home, then it seems the only way to stay employed in this country is to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science. --Darrell Wilson DeSoto, Kan.
Daniel Griswold replies:
No one argues that foreign outsourcing will leave every American better off. Some people will lose their jobs because of off-shoring, just as others will lose because of imported goods, new technology, or domestic competition. Millions of jobs are created and destroyed in the U.S. economy every year. Rather than trying to block change through protectionist barriers or other regulations, we should equip ourselves to make the transition to better jobs.
America's experience with trade has been what trade theory would predict: We do more of what we do best, and we import more of what people in other countries do best. Meanwhile, over the long haul, employment keeps rising with the size of the labor force. Americans retain tremendous advantages in creating, managing, making, and marketing higher-end goods and services.
By "routine programming," I meant those tasks that are more limited and more easily delegated.
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