Outsourcing America Book

Foreword   Lou Dobbs     ix
Preface     xiii
Acknowlegments     xvii
What Outsourcing Means for America     1
Outsourcing Cannot Be Ignored     2
What Actually Happens with Outsourcing     5
The Outsourcing Debate Is Misleading     6
Is Outsourcing Inevitable?     7
The Potential Impacts Are Far-Reaching     8
Why Outsourcing Is Fool's Gold for Companies     9
What the U.S. Can Do About Outsourcing     10
Conclusion     12
Outsourcing in a Larger Context     15
Free Trade Is Not Really "Free"     16
The Effects Can Vary Greatly     16
Understanding Historical Developments     18
Trading Jobs for Competitive Advantage     19
How Other Nations Handled Trade Competition     20
Conclusion     22
The Public Debate on Outsourcing Is Misleading     25
What Experts Say About Outsourcing     26
Open Proponents of Outsourcing     30
Critics of Outsourcing     35
Proponents' Reaction to Critics     39
Conclusion     41
Outsourcing of High-Wage Jobs     43
How MuchOutsourcing Is Happening?     43
How Outsourcing Snowballs     48
A Lack of Government Monitoring     52
The Upward Trends in Offshore Outsourcing     54
Offshore Outsourcing in Other Developed Countries     59
Where the Jobs Are Heading     61
Why Companies Are Moving Jobs Overseas     67
Cost and Salary Differences     67
Domestic Outsourcing as a Strategy     72
Better or Unique Talent Overseas     75
No Penalty for Destroying U.S. Jobs     76
U.S. Tax Incentives     80
Technological Change     81
Access to Emerging Markets with Proactive Policies     85
Easier with Experience     86
U.S. Immigration Policies     86
Corporate Strategy That No Longer Includes Workers     88
Conclusion     90
The Far-Reaching Effects of Outsourcing on the U.S. Economy     95
The Long-Run Impacts on Economic Efficiency     96
The Impacts on U.S. Labor Demand     100
The Impacts on Types of Occupations and Education     109
The Threats to U.S. Technological Capacity     116
Conclusion     121
The Human Face of Outsourcing: The Impact on Individual Workers and Communities     125
The Immediate Impact on American Workers     126
The Long-Run Impact on American Workers     129
The Impact on Individuals     130
The Impact on Communities     135
The Indian-American Community: A Special Case     140
Conclusion     142
How Our Dysfunctional Immigration Policy Fuels Outsourcing     147
Introduction     147
Some Immigration Basics     148
How Guest Workers Promote Outsourcing     150
Three Fundamental Design Flaws in the H-1B Program     151
Shutting Out the Best and Brightest     162
What We Should Do?     163
How Developing Countries Attract American Jobs     167
Why Software Companies Move Overseas     168
Outsourcing to India     170
The Rise of Indian Software     173
The Indian Diaspora Brought High-Tech Home     175
Why Bangalore? The Development of the Indian Software Cluster     176
The Indian Government's High-Tech Policies     177
An Overview of China's Proactive IT Policy     181
The Implications for Other Developing Countries     184
What's Down the Road?     186
Conclusion      187
Outsourcing in Europe and Canada     193
Introduction     193
Europe Is on Fire     193
European Outsourcing: The Irish Miracle and the Eastern Frontier     195
Canada: Keeping Quiet-for the Moment     197
Light at the End of the Tunnel? Why Offshoring Does Not Have to Mean a Race to the Bottom     199
Ten Policy Recommendations     205
Acknowledge That a Problem Exists     207
Gather the Right Data to Study the Problem     208
Reform U.S. Visa Policies That Encourage Offshore Outsourcing     210
Adopt More Pragmatic Approaches to Government Procurement     211
Overhaul Assistance Programs for Displaced Workers     213
Establish Better Protections for Workers     215
Train the Next Generation of Workers to Have Lifelong Marketable Skills     218
New Institutions Are Needed to Represent the Interests of Workers     220
Maintain Our Technological Leadership     221
Institute Trade Policies in the U.S. National Interest     223
Conclusion     227
Defining Outsourcing     231
Outsourcing     231
Offshore Outsourcing     233
Offshoring or Offshore Sourcing     233
On-Site Offshore Outsourcing     233
Insourcing     234
Global Sourcing     235
Best-Shore, Near Shore, All-Shore, etc.     235
Analysis of Key Outsourcing Studies     237
ITAA Study     237
Mann Report     238
McKinsey Report     241
Legislation Introduced Related to Outsourcing     243
Federal Legislation     243
State Legislation     246
Bibliography     247
Index     263