Is the Corporate Strategy of Outsourcing Unpatriotic?

No. Capitalism is more important than patriatism.

That said, our government should do things to promote the American economy ...not just pander to corporate interests.

Put tax incentives in place to promote domestic work centers. Even with a tax break, that is better than no tax revenue to outsource the entire work center overseas.

 

I could go into a long-winded response but most of you won't understand it. So...

- Many companies are forced to outsource to stay competitive with the global marketplace.
- If you don't outsource a part of the company, the entire company could be lost, resulting in greater job losses
- A CEO's job is to maximize shareholder value, not maximize American jobs.
- US shareholders benefit from a company's increased profits attributable to lower labor costs/lower shipping costs (due to outsourcing)
- The US tax burden contributes to outsourcing and must be lowered
- Outsourcing lowers consumer prices to Americans, thereby allowing them to live at a higher standard of living

 

This subject is too long to discuss in writing. Not all outsourcing is bad; some is quite good. It depends on the circumstances. It will be interesting reading the replies here.

 

How can you stop outsourcing? I don't think it is possible. Tax incentive could help some but there won't be enough tax money in the us to stop outsourcing. Outsourcing will slow down when China, India and other major devloping countries reach level of economical level comparable to the developed nations.

 

Business owners act in their own self-interest. They will do the job in the location where they can operate most competitively, or they will go out of business. That's reality. Patriotism is irrelevant to the discussion.

 

Lower corporate taxes to a level that doesn't put the US at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the world. Streamline regulation.

 

This still won't stop it completely, not even close. Outsourcing is a natural result of capitalism + national economic barriers coming down.

 

I agree with what TJ wrote here. There are actually many benefits to outsourcing for the US economy and I think not outsourcing out of a sense of nationalism rather than for economic reasons will end up hurting the economy. For consumers who don't like outsourcing they can do their patriotic duty and vote with their dollars to buy American rather than putting the honus on corporations.

 

I shouldn't have suggested that. I understand that. Even a slowdown, we've got virtually full employment, and any increase of productivity has to come from somewhere. But while the rest of the world is breaking down governmental economic barriers, we are leaving them up, and in a few scattered cases, trying to build new ones.

 

I work for a company that outsources. Since the company has started outsourcing a lot of the base IT work, call centers, etc, costs have lowered, shareholder value has been raised and investment has increased.

I would say that we have even more American employees now that we did before outsourcing because the company has been very successful and now has so many more employees overall.

 

As weslinder said, patriotism is irrelevant to the topic. Corporations are in the business of making money, not serving their country.

As barriers to trade are removed, outsourcing is something that's unavoidable. It's part of the process of making the global economy more efficient and the overall pie larger, but some people will lose out in the absence of compensation from the government. In the US, those people are mostly workers without a college education. This is why it's increasingly important to get a degree.

 

Well it looks like there is a consensus that corporations are not patriotic or at least patriotism is irrelevant to them.

I guess the next question is if corporations care about the world wide environment?

Do corporations care about human rights?

Do they care about their workers?

Do they care about their consumers?

Finally what type of world will we have in which corporate power outstrips that of most and perhaps even the strongest nation states, which can potentially respond to the desires of their citizens expressed democratically.

I think you guys just made a good argument for regulation of corporations by government.

 

I thought republicans were about supporting the troops, wearing flag lapel pins, buying American, etc. Are you insinuating all that is just a sham?

I think outsourcing sucks if you lose your job, but I want my cheap crap from walmart, so it is hard to complain.

 

Patriotism and Capitalism have nothing to do with each other.
Capitalism trumps Patriotism . .. every time . . .
Welcome to America!


Rocket River

 

think of outsourcing as trade...

do you want to stop trade???

Dont we all agree that trade is Beneficial to the worlds economy and the US economy?

Outsourcing is the trade of services, We are just used to trade as being some final good or a raw material.

Outsourcing = trade = optimal

 

That might be true of some or many corporatinos. But, in general, I think outsourcing is good for the American economy, and by extension America itself. I think outsourcing is actively patriotic, though the corporations involved may not be thinking of patriotism when they make their decisions.

There is pain (short-term for the nation; long-term for individuals who lose their jobs) associated with outsourcing. That sucks for people, and we as a nation should probably do what we can to help get those people to a place they can do valuable work again. But, in increasing the efficiency of the economy, providing value to the consumer, providing return on investment to the investor, outsourcing is good.

I also see it as a humanistically positive endeavor. The benefits accrued from outsourcing are international and marginally contribute to the enrichment and betterment of lives throughout the world. So, some suffer (and should be helped), but our country and the world prospers.

 

You can spin it that way if you like, but if you are really trying to prevent outsourcing and corporate power, increased regulation is the last thing that you want. Necessary or not, regulation increases cost of doing business and creates barriers to entry. Those two things combine to squeeze out marginal producers, resulting in consolidation of corporate power and decreased job opportunities. You'd have an easier time spinning it to say that we're making an argument for pure communism.

 

edit:

 

If it involves making money the capitalistic way then it is never unpatriotic. (grammar check)

Doesn't mean it's right, though.