digerati

"Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was asked recently if his plan to tax U.S. companies that move work overseas addressed an "overblown" issue, considering the jobs non-U.S. companies create in America.

"Nope, not if you talk to any worker that's out there," Kerry said in an interview.

He hasn't talked to Barry Bell, a 39-year-old section leader of a Bayerische Motoren Werke AG factory in Spartanburg County, S.C. He joined BMW when the world's second-largest maker of luxury cars opened the plant in 1994.

"I think it's a great opportunity," Bell said of the arrival of Munich-based BMW and other non-U.S. companies in South Carolina in recent years. "We've seen a big explosion" of jobs offered by overseas employers, he said in an interview.

Bell and BMW illustrate the flip side of the election-year debate in the United States over job "outsourcing." While U.S. companies including Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's second- largest computer maker, and AIG Life Insurance Co., the world's largest insurer, have transferred white-collar work to low-wage countries such as India and China, more jobs are coming the other way, according to government estimates and trade analysts.

"Any way you slice it, the world is creating or transferring more jobs to the U.S. than we are doing to the rest of the world," said Daniel T. Griswold, a trade specialist at the Cato Institute, a research organization in Washington.

India's Essel Propack Ltd., Taiwan's Teco Electric & Machinery Co. and Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S all have built plants in the United States in the last year and a half."

Guidoo

Firstly....i'm not here to debate John Kerry....just the info you posted regarding being created here by foreign companies and the offshoring of jobs by american corps.

The corps you mentioned have for the most part opened shop here to sell products here. I'm well aware of that BMW opened a plant in South Carolina (1994)...i live in North Carolina . I dont have a problem with corps opening shop in other countries....IF ...they are planning to sell their product in that country/area. What I have a problem with is corps that move jobs out of country to provide goods and services back to the american consumer. BMW opened that plant to build and sell cars to american consumers, so did Nissan, Honda , Mazda and quite a few others. When corps like Dell move tech support jobs to India to provide support to american consumers I have a problem with that. When Intel moves engineering jobs overseas to sell products back to america I have a problem with that. I could go on and on. The bottom line is these corps are doing this to save money. And frankly this wouldnt be such a large issue if it werent for the current job situation in the US. March finally gave us some good news for job growth, the bad news is that these jobs were mostly in the service sector which by and large are lower paying jobs than sectors such as technology and manufacturing.

BTW ...I visited the Cato website......along with the arguments supporting offshoring of jobs they also make an argument for privitization of Social Security. I didnt think that was a bad idea till the days of Enron and the stock market tumble. Those events opened my eyes.

bird chest

Seeing as social security is going bankrupt anyway I think as roosevelt said try something and privatizing to me seems like the answer. But the funny thing is is that your money is that any government worker with benefits in the US gets a privatized type acount and look how much more they make then SS. Also would you please source me a place where it says service sector jobs pay less and a reliable source please.

raid517

Yeah but I guess the big problem there is that countries like India and China and others economies are booming. It is likely that one day in the not too distant future they too will begin to import jobs to America - independent of any American involvement. If you then start sending out signals that you won't allow jobs to be exported, but it's fine for others to import them - then you are going to build up a lot of resentment. 'You give us your jobs - and in return, we won't give you anything.' It doesn't seem like much of a deal now does it?

You guys profess to e capitalists - but you fail to understand properly how capitalism works. Free trade does not prosper in the face of restrictive practices. In order to get a return you have to invest something - and if you invest nothing, don't be surprised when you get nothing back.

Creating jobs abroad may one day serve only to further strengthen the American economy - as reduced costs enable companies to compete in new markets.

This is certainly one of Kerry's more ill thought out blunders - and one I hope is quietly forgotten if and when he is ever elected.

GJ

Guidoo

Your right about social security going broke....between the babyboomers getting ready to retire and the fact that the SS fund has been raided for many years to cover deficit spending by the US govt. Where I work we also have a privatized account available to us and most participate. They realize that SS was never ment to be your soul support in old age. The bad part is most lost a ton of money when the stock market tumbled. Resulting in many delayed retirements. So where should this privitized SS fund be put ?? The stock market isnt safe...and the govt has raided the existing fund. No easy answer....sorry.

Now for a link...

govt job classification

FIXED LINK

take a look at the jobs listed under the service categories, about 2/3 are what I consider low end jobs. Look youself, I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of wages.



Raid I'm not tirading against corps that open facilities in other countries to compete in those regions. My trouble is with companies that layoff workers here to open up in another country then sell their goods/services back here. These jobs arent being sent to countries like India and China because they have booming economies...indeed they may have just that. But it will be many many years before wages in those areas are brought in line with wages in the US, Europe,Japan and Canada.
If the current trend in outsourcing were occuring at a time of lower unemployment then the situation would be quite different. Lower unemployement would allow the absorbtion of displaced workers into other jobs....but that is not what is happening right now. BTW Capitalism or Communism...unrestrained are not exactly user friendly

bird chest

2 things. Partially privatize!!!! You allow people to do what they want in the market but you have percentages. Like 30 years from retirment 80% in stocks, 20 years 70%, 10 50%, 5 10%. The rest in cds, bonds, and money markets. Note I made up these numbers.

Your link failed??? But I am curious. Do things like a therapist, mesuse (spelling?), actors, athletes, personal trainers, etc.. do those count as service end jobs. Because all the bad service end jobs are for non-educated people and I have much less sympathy for you if you do not get an education.

Guidoo

Sorry for taking so long to get back.....but you know the drill....work....wife....work.....lol


Firstly I did go back and fix the link...give it a try

Secondly the most of the jobs you mentioned are indeed in the "service sector".
But would it be possible say for someone like myself who works in the technology/telcom industry to get a job as a therapist or an actor if I were to lose my job ?? Your argument that the low end jobs are only for the "uneducated" just doent hold water. There have been many cases where people have lost a job and forced (basically) to take a much lower paying job.

I do agree at least partially with your argument for "private" retirement accounts. But I dont think that SS should be (as we know it) done away with. The current system allows for both. If the US govt would quit raiding the SS fund a great deal of progress could be made in keeping it solvent.

Guido.