BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

On 07 Jul 2004 15:37:33 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

Gould, the fact that a search engine shows 807 links, does not mean those
links are correct.

The random examples I checked confirmed the $1/ hour typical wage.

No. I did not follow all 807 links.

The facts are that the average telephone worker in India earns much more (in
purchasing power), than the average worker in the US.

Have we shifted to relative purchasing power? I misunderstood our discussion to
be centered upon the truth or fiction of the statement that wages in Indian
call centers
are about $1 an hour US.

The problem is in the
exchange rate, and an isolationist policy or implementing a restrictive
tariff on all goods and services imported into the US will not correct this
problem or be of any benefit the US economy or it's work force.

I agree. It would be unrealistic to expect most corporations to avoid the race
to the bottom, wage wise. Sometimes being competitive means seeking out the
lowest common denominator and hanging on for dear life.

Those Indians will soon discover what most of the offshore boat building
countries have experienced in the last 15 or 20 years. As soon as the wages
rise a little bit, the corporations will bail out of India
as if the place had a contagious disease.
If some county 1000 miles away will work for 50-cents and hour rather than a
buck,
he whole kit and kaboodle will upsticks and move.

So is it your contention that corporations should voluntarily not seek
the best "bang for their investment buck", and should adopt a more
altruistic (To U.S. workers) business plan?

What about other foreign corporation who our corporations compete
with?

Greed is a part of human nature. The more you have, the more you want.
That's why liberalism is destined to fail. Liberals believe that
people will do the morally right thing, if given the chance. History
has pretty much proven that wrong. If left to the natural course of
commerce, there will always be those who take advantage of any given
situation to increase their net worth. Only through strong government
regulation (Socialism) do you stand any chance of mitigating this.
Since socialism ultimately leads to mediocrity, it's really not a
worthy solution.

No, the unfortunate truth is that the world market will have to
equalize on its own, and that could take 50 years. Not very comforting
for those of us in the inflated "1st world" countries. But as the rest
of the world catches up to our standard of living, there will be no
further incentive to more work offshore.

Dave