Edward L. Glaeser (“Bad laws are no cure for outsourcing,” Op-ed, July 26) is quite right about the clumsy congressional efforts to bring jobs home. What he misses is that there is already bad law in place that encourages companies to send jobs overseas.
While Americans are taxed on their worldwide income, this is not true for corporations. By building factories overseas and employing foreign workers, companies can frequently source profits overseas and thus delay or avoid paying taxes on the profits that arise from using foreign workers.
Since the Citizens United ruling gave constitutional rights to non-human entities, perhaps it is time to reconsider the tax delay and avoidance that encourages American corporations to move jobs out of the United States.
If taxes were due immediately on such foreign profits, there would be less reason to outsource jobs.