These loopholes in this Jobs Act are pounced on by employers who care little to see their nation prosper. Perhaps the result of cheaper labor is lower cost goods but this misses a big point. The result of outsourcing is depressed wages and poor working conditions here and abroad. The price tags have to be lower because people do not have the income to afford higher priced goods. The actual difference between goods produced in the US versus overseas is about 20% and could be lowered by clustering related industries in proximity to each other. The higher quality of home grown products made by fairly paid American workers would expand markets resulting in more customers. That is a win-win situation. It comes down to societal ethics and tests major industries's sense of country. Do they play a zero sum game where they take from one to give to themselves or invest in a positive sum game where both sides of the bargain prosper and add to national wealth? The attitude that Capitalism's basis is human greed needs to be deep sixed in favor of a sense of improved collective survival. Assured living conditions is the well spring of individual well being.

This kind of policy is beyond bad, it is disguising political motivations as something that is good for business. Fine column. One of the biggest temptations in politics is to try and fine tune regulation, to drive more favorable outcomes. In this case, it creates bizarre incentives, and truly distorts the way corporations would make decisions. Yes, moving an operation offshore ought to be a viable option for any company. Adding more layers of regulation would do nothing to create jobs at home.

If the good professor's deeper point is that globalization has improved prosperity, they why are workers worse off for it? It is not out of some altruistic motive that US Corporations use labor overseas or to improve the lot of "poor countries." They want cheap labor. The overall effect of such trade has been to depress wages here and abroad, some leading to unemployment, poor health, and even death. Prof Glaeser is depending on the positive effects of greed to make life better. It hasn't and it won't. Overseas operations means a zero sum game where labor is exploited to extract wealth and move it into the employers's column out of proportion to the human effort involved. If working 6 days a week in 12 hour shifts is a life improvement something has gone haywire with our sense of values. Our business schools and the general sense of the public needs updating. To have a prosperous nation the tables need to be turned to positive sum games where both parties improve their survival. This article this morning shows a crack of concern on the professor's part since the public is slowing catching on that the system is rigged. Cheaper lower quality goods made by near slave labor should be relegated to the dust bin of history. It should be replaced by recognizing the obligations of a society's participants to expand opportunity and wealth to as many as possible.

This means you favor the status quo where highly productive workers in this country are replaced with masses of low paid labor laboring in poor conditions overseas. Mr. Romney, for example, has used the present laws to squirrel away money, avoiding taxes, and refusing to invest in his own country. How many more examples do you need to understand that our current situation is a poverty making machine? Perhaps we can wait for real revolt on the part of the people to change large employer's outlook but the present suffering dictates we act sooner. If this law is abused then it can be tightened by Congress. That is what government is for. As John Paine remarked: "Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices." So the choice is clear. Either employers understand their duty to their fellow countrymen(promote the general welfare) or are made to do so by representative government.

Editorial notes: First sentence--.....THEN why are workers worse off for it.

I guess at some point down the line, rich Honduran companies will outsource to the United States to exploit the pool of cheap labor here. Until then, American workers can rely on small business tax cuts to survive.

Well said...

Excuse me, Tom Paine, not John Paine. Sorry Tom, my bad.

The column, like many recent business writings, addresses outsourcing with an emphasis on the labor portion. There will always be countries developing labor-intensive operations and larger manufacturers will sign agreements moving product from one to another. For example, in the 70s we worked with the Japanese, then followed their companies into Thailand and Korea. Consumer products now come labeled from eastern Europe, Africa and middle Asia. But the real damage to our economy and to the middle class has risen from the outsourcing of assets and finance, with corporations no longer obligated to distribute or reinvest profits but, rather, able to "bank" them in overseas accounts. This created a chess-game of numbers that has enriched a handful of executives and bankers, while starving our economy of the research, equipment and educational investments that formerly resulted. Under the guise of the 401k laws they claim that "everybody gains" but that's bunk. Rather than a Bring The Jobs Home Act, Congress could do a lot more good returning corporate tax policy to the standards of the 80s - with an clear message to corporations: bring the $3trillion home NOW because there won't be another tax holiday to hold out for. Of course, that would be good for the rest of us but not for Congress .....

Who ever wrote this article is, for lack of a better term - a total idiot. If you want to see real coverage of Outsourcing and its effects view Greater Bostons Thursday episode on STATE STREET CORP OUTSOURCING and learn something for a change !! http://www.wgbh.org/includes/playerPop.cfm?section=1&featureid=%2040276