Outsourced

Today in class we talked a lot about outsourcing and the fears that come with it. During the 2012 election, Mitt Romney was criticized heavily for outsourcing during his tenure at Bain Capital and commenting that outsourcing was critical to its success as a company. Obviously people disagreed and felt as if Romney was flip flopping due to his anti-outsourcing stance in the election. After today's discussion, though, it seems like Romney's apologies might have been a little premature. Outsourcing continues to be a point of contention and as we read from Friedman and Blinder there are many different points of view when it comes to how and if the United States should address the issue. Friedman points out that countries like India and China have graduated millions of engineers and doctors every year, and that if the US wants to stay relevant that they need to step up and put more emphasis on education and the sciences in general. Blinder disagrees and states that in order for the US to continue to dominate the world economy there needs to be a shift in specialization. Blinder says that the problem lies in jobs with impersonal connections. There are jobs that require face to face contact and outsourcing won't be able to provide the same quality work. 

The main question that arises, though, is if outsourcing is good for America. It's been an inevitable cycle, and the majority of goods already have a Made In China sticker, the only missing is a designed in China sticker as well. If we're outsourcing all our manufacturing jobs to China, does that give us more room to be creative, or give them the advantage to take over control? 

In a Wall Street Journal article by Douglas Irwin, Irwin states that outsourcing is actually benefiting Americans. Even though manufacturing jobs are being outsourced, US manufacturing has risen by 40% over the past decade as companies have deliberately chosen high wage workers, and "Between 1995 and 2002, China, Japan, Brazil and other countries lost more manufacturing jobs than did the U.S., according to an Alliance Capital Management study." Irwin's optimistic opinions don't do much to talk about the fragility of what Blinder calls "personal" and "impersonal jobs". Irwin comments that the service industry will persevere because of specialization. While we can outsource x-rays to any doctor in the world, there will only so many specialists in advanced radiography with relation to malignant tumors. He states that, "As long as the American workforce retains its high level of skills, and remains flexible as firms position themselves to improve their productivity, the high-value portion of the service sector will not evaporate." Irwin also notes that Americans ignore the need for outsourcing. There would be no way that an average consumer could afford their everyday products if they were solely manufactured in America, there needs to be a source of cheap labor in order to keep our standard of living. Necessity has always been the mother of invention, and the US has never been the type to shy away from a challenge, so why are we afraid now?
Sources
Wall Street Journal

How Much is A Life Worth?

It's hard not to get caught up in all of the recent ISIS madness. As of posting this entry, there have been 3 beheadings caught on tape and uploaded to YouTube. Every journalist sent abroad knows the risks the job has. No one, however, is ready to face the reality of these dangerous situations when they're presented. Tourists and college students are always warned about what may happen when they go abroad, especially females.  They are reminded that the United States has a strict policy on not paying ransoms for hostages. While many countries in Europe make it their priority to pay for the release of hostages, the US has often been criticized for their use of military force to save hostages as an alternative method. In cases like ISIS, however, it's hard to know what the right choice is. Diane Foley, the mother of the deceased stated that," Our government was very clear that no ransom was going to be paid or should be paid," she said. "It was horrible - and continues to be very horrible. You are between a rock and a hard place." This sounds like every family's horror story, but terrorist groups like ISIS exist solely because of their ability to terrorize governments into paying for their ransoms. Paying a ransom for a hostage encourages more kidnappings, and it becomes a vicious cycle that only serves the terrorist organization. ISIS asked for $135 million in order for the freedom of James Foley, knowing that the US government would never agree to pay the sum. The average sum negotiated per prisoner is about 2 millions British Pounds. While many countries deny paying ransoms, it's been estimated that terrorist organizations have made about $120 million through ransom payments alone. Governments and people wonder where these terrorist organizations get their money, but the answer evidently lies in human lives. However well intentioned, these European states are funding the terrorist organizations they are fighting to stop. It is of course out of the question for people to ask that their governments not save hostages, for the freedom and safety of every citizen is the highest priority for every government. Finding a clear solution is a Sisyphean task; governments will be criticized no matter what they do. Terrorist groups will always find a way to exploit human sympathy, and with the rise of social media their despicable actions will gain even more traction. The important thing to do know is to help ensure the safety of all vulnerable peoples to cut off their resources as quickly as possible.

Websites Used: 

Foreign Policy

News Week

Washington Post

Mother Jones