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Thursday, April 1, 2004
"Below the boiling political rhetoric, a real threat America's workers face is the potential for U.S. wages to sink to overseas levels." BusinessWeek is the first influential publication to ask the right question ... in a truly global economy, our wages must fall as theirs rise. Something that no politician is willing to tell you. [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
comments < 8:56:10 AM 
>ITAA Finally admits that demand for U.S. software engineers will shrink every year for the next five years. What this means: The collective skills in software technology will shrink in the U.S., while rapidly expanding elsewhere. This means that new advances are less likely to come from the U.S. Which means that someone else's economy will derive the greatest benefits as we become consumers, rather than producers. Our comparative advantage becomes history. The ITAA says this is all a good thing! If a little offshoring is good, then more would be better! [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology] comments < 8:55:52 AM
>Excellent letter regarding offshoring. It points out what I fear too - the real push for offshoring is salaries #1, and then to change the laws of Western countries to eliminate worker protections that we take for granted, including laws against discrimination, health and safety of the work environment, and also benefits programs. In a global economy, we will be told that Western companies cannot compete with international firms that have drastically lower labor and health care costs. Watch for a big push - by businesses! - for a national, socialized health care system, paid for primarily by taxes on wages. A few CEOs and CFOs have already made remarks along these lines - that on the basis of health insurance costs alone, it is cheaper to move jobs outside the U.S. Many retail businesses - such as Albertson's groceries, or Home Depot hardware stores - have installed "do-it-yourself" checkout systems. By moving to customer-provided services, they not only eliminate labor costs, they also reduce benefits costs. Since benefits can cost an employer $3 to $4 per hour, benefits are becoming a major part of the cost of having low paid labor on your payroll. The automatic check out machine has neither labor nor benefits costs. While consumers are not entirely happy with customer-provided services, it appears to be the trend. Starting with banks' ATM machines, to automated gas stations, to "fill-it-yourself" soda at fast food restaurants, we are now moving up the chain to eliminate as many workers as we can. Is it really a productivity improvement if we merely move the job from a paid worker to an unpaid customer? I dunno. [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology] comments < 8:54:02 AM
>19th century dying industries: Steel, timber, software development. Read this excellent article on the realities of offshoring. Our country desparately needs a high level policy discussion on the offshoring phenomena. So much is being said about offshoring, most of which is heavily biased by one perspective or another - that no real progress towards addressing real issues is going to be made. The subject begs for political leadership, of which so far there is none. [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology] comments < 8:53:38 AM
>Todd Gross, a weatherman from a local Boston station, points out a very interesting weather note (thanks Joe): A Hurricane/Typhoon/Cyclone (pick a name, they don't have them down there, and all 3 storms are the same) struck southern Brazil coming off the S. Atlantic. The only problem... HURRICANES HAVE NEVER FORMED IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC IN MODERN DAY RECORD KEEPING!. Well, the absolutely biggest clue to global climate change "might" be a Hurricane in the S. Atlantic, indicating that sea temperatures and/or circulation patterns have shifted. The Hurricane in Brazil this past weekend (3,000 homeless) while only category 1 or 2, is one of the most important weather events ever to happen on Earth in your lifetime. It may or may not be a signal of further changes in global climate in decades ahead, but it is fascinating nonetheless. Given the recent DoD report on rapid climate change (mini ice age) and its impact on world security, this is an interesting datapoint. [John Robb's Weblog] comments < 8:51:39 AM
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