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RE: Re: <OFF-TOPIC>Globalization with Justice
>From: svg1970 [mailto:
>Sent: January 22, 2004 6:54 PM
>To:
>Subject: [EDI-L] Re: <OFF-TOPIC>Globalization with Justice
[snip]
>we need to look at what could and should
>be done to take care of people who are affected adversely
>(in the short term, hopefully). One thing everyone can do
>is to help themselves by keeping pace with current trends and
>technologies.
[snip]
>I am not an economist or expert on the subject. I am
>open to share opinions from experts and people like myself.
>
>Thanks and regards,
>S Vengat
It strikes me as ironic that you prescribe keeping one's (EDI?) skills
current, presumably because they will be in demand again at sometime in the
future, yet say nothing about reading economics. Indeed, you disclaim any
expertise in economics, the core "technology" in any discussion of
globalization or off-shoring (from the USA). Economics is a well-developed
body of thought without which no one can begin to understand the forces
driving globalization, outsourcing, or much of anything about business,
including how to manage one's career.
Two relevant sub-disciplines of economics are:
- micro-economics, including how businesses select suppliers (you and me)
- international economics, including the forces affecting trade between
artificially separated markets. Of course, globalization is an attempt to
do away with the politician-inspired barriers between markets.
Lots of great books on both topics are available from Amazon or, better
yet, in the used book area of any college bookstore. Beware of thinly
veiled political tracts, which abound. And beware of those authors who will
tell you how people should behave instead of describing how people actually
behave; three or four generations of Soviet citizens were sacrificed to
that foolishness, not to mention a few generations of Chinese and who knows
how many generations of Cubans and North Koreans. Several billion lives
were severely stunted because some wannabe economic demi-god made a
successful power grab.
A few thoughts before I don my asbestos, flameproof suit: [1] What would be
the standard of living of USA-based workers if there always had been 50
protected economies, one for each state, instead of one large market? I
would argue that we would be much worse off. And consider that a major
impetus for the European Community is the measurable fact that people are
more prosperous in a larger, more diverse economy. [2] Americans are in a
transition between a semi-protected "national" market and one large global
market, and are feeling the pain of globalizING, not the chronic pain of
having been globalizED (past tense). [3] Countries with strong, free
economies (and political systems) don't start wars. Finish wars, yes; start
them, no. [4] For you Americans (native born, naturalized, or thinking
about it), our core competence is innovation, not turning the crank on an
established process day after day. It springs from our
not-quite-housebroken culture, and no one can duplicate that. The crazies
and misfits from other cultures come here, fit right in, and quickly begin
to export their work product, including to their former homeland, the one
which didn't appreciate them. [5] The best thing we can do for ourselves as
a nation is to cut tuition to the absolute minimum, then make
taxpayer-funded student loans easily available to both first-timers and
retreads. I benefited from both of those prescriptions, as you may have.
[6] There are nations (and individuals) which adopted the notion that they
had a RIGHT to a continuing high standard of living -- now, they are quaint
places to visit.
That ought to keep the pot boiling for a few days.
Jeff Mick
Sunnyvale, California, USA
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