<p>Actually, it is a very ad hominem thing to do. And as you've very helpfully pointed out, we're all guilty of that.</p>
<p>First of all, you guys whine about the poverty of people throughout the world or in IBM's case, India. Then you complain when IBM sends jobs there??<br>
Here is an interesting perspective:
Outsourcing good for Americans</p>
<pre><code>As we have lamented on several occasions, job creation has not been occurring as fast as it did following earlier recessions or, for that matter, as fast as anyone would like. It doesn't matter whether one is looking at the Labor Department's household survey or its business-establishment survey: Job growth has been either anemic or nonexistent. President Bush isn't satisfied, and neither are the multitude of Democrats seeking to replace him.
One reason why jobs have not increased sufficiently is due to astounding productivity increases, which all economists believe are a major source of rising living standards over the long term. Another important source of rising living standards is free trade. Importing goods and services that can be produced or provided at much lower costs abroad increases the purchasing power of Americans. It also allows American workers to concentrate their efforts providing goods and services that they can produce more cheaply, largely because of their higher productivity and greater capital stock.
Referring to the growing phenomenon of off-shoring white-collar service jobs to India and elsewhere, Gregory Mankiw, the widely respected Harvard economist who currently serves as the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, recently argued that sluggish job growth was not the result of the repeal of the law of comparative advantage, which underlies the wealth-creating mutual benefits of free trade. Convincingly, Mr. Mankiw attributed the weak labor market to numerous adverse shocks to the economy, including the high-tech bubble, corporate-governance scandals, the war on terror and the much slower growth of other developed economies.
"Economists have talked for [centuries] about trade, free international trade, being a positive for economies around the world, both at home and abroad," Mr. Mankiw noted. "[T]his is something that is universally believed by economists." Outsourcing service jobs to other countries "is just a new way of doing international trade." With the advent of the Internet, "more things are tradable than were tradable in the past, and that's a good thing," he correctly argued. The phenomenon was "probably a plus for the economy in the long run," he observed, acknowledging that "trade always means there's dislocations." Offering assistance to dislocated workers is far cheaper than denying the massive benefits of trade to America's 300 million consumers through protectionism.
Amid the understandable anxiety caused by the sluggish labor market, protectionist Democrats and a few Republicans attacked Mr. Mankiw, even though he was essentially repeating what Bill Clinton, to his credit, had said a thousand times before.
</code></pre>
<p>Jewboy...what you said about outsourcing is ridiculous...</p>
<p>there aren't going to be less Americans to buy IBMs goods...IBM ships its jobs over to India and ships CHEAPER products over to America. Now, we have MORE Americans buying MORE IBM products and IBM getting richer. And this will continue until India's status of living balances out with our own, which is what invariable is happening here. Years later, outsourcing has brought up the standard of living in poor countries all over the world and has allowed people in developed nations to have access to cheaper goods. You see, if free trade is left alone, people's lives improve in the long run. But you're not focusing on the world as a whole (like you claim liberals do)...you're looking at a few workers in the present. Stopping free trade is what led to the Great Depression.</p>
<p>Conservatives talk about self-reliance, even as corporations get tax break after tax break, and commit fraudulent act after fraudulent act(ENRON), not to mention the military as the biggest entitlement program of all time, and despite their purported belief in self-reliance, want to dictate what people can read, or watch, or discuss, while supporting a national relgion despite separation of church and state....I could go on and on...all I can say is , you voted for Bush, now you have to live with him. Ready to join the military?</p>
<p>so let's blame the kids</p>
<p>wow I really hope you don't feel that way becuz I love jesus too and I think it's sad that u saying these mean things while saying u love jesus... sounds hypocritical</p>
<ol>
<li>sounds like more adults than high school students on this particular thread</li>
<li>quite a few need to go back to lesson #1 in critical thinking skills</li>
<li>many of you have SELECTIVELY taken statistics and used to support your own views, while in fact, statistics are more often than not, very skewed</li>
<li>Tyler Zelda "not to mention the military as the biggest entitlement??? program of all time" explain that one...entitlement?</li>
</ol>
<p>stupid, <strong><em>ing radical conservatives........i wanna beat their asses....and trust me i can..how are they SO dumb like "iluvjesus"???Lol *</em></strong> it....next time i meet one as dumb as iluvjesus lol....ill ***ing kill the bible-whore who misinterprets a holy book because he's a retard ...</p>
<p>don't dick around with the bible and god "iluvjesus".....you'll get owned</p>
<p>hope u die!
have a miserbale day *******</p>
<p>I wouldn't call myself a radical conservative. That message you just posted rrproductions sort of makes you sound radical yourself.</p>
<p>Sempergumby-I am a hs senior.</p>
<p>Yeh...semper high school senior too...</p>
<p>And rpproductions...i'll take you on in any fight...Its the liberals that need their marches and parades...conservatives can stand up for themselves...theyre used to taking on a 3:1 ratio of stupid liberals in our country</p>
<p>rpproductions: youve just voiced the desires of many. </p>
<p>hockygenius: nice of you to quote from a conservative source. washington times, very trusty. i like how the editors of that filth violate the journalistic tenet by inserting their own little thots into their columnist's articles w/o THEIR FREAKIN CONSENT ! ! ! GOOD SOURCE "genius"</p>
<p>oh of course, the media is sooo conservative...just look at Dan Rather praising Bush...</p>
<p>hey ghost, the reliability of a source is all relative.</p>
<p>calm down buddy...if you read my message I only present the Times article to portray another viewpoint. Come on, you guys are supposed to be the open-minded ones, not us.</p>
<p>just curious...could you please give me the instance where the editors of "that filth" insert their opinions without the columnist's consent? Would I be overstepping my bounds by saying the majority of all newspapers do this? </p>
<p>Jake, again the lefties are trying to personally ridicule us as conservative thinkers. I try not to take it to a personal level when I lambast a lefty.</p>
<p>Oh yea and ghost...that little op-ed i cited above contained views and insights from a HARVARD economist...not exactly a filthy aspect of the source (at least in the ideas of liberals in academia)</p>
<p>This article isn't really offensive. I agree with the lack of ideological diversity part wholeheartedly. Many liberals can be, and are, just as misguided as many conservatives. I personally don't like either Republicans or Democrats and both ideologies' various aspects appeal to and repel me, but one thing I detest is the far left-wing brand of liberalism present in so many of our universities. The politics are one of the few things that i'm not looking forward to in college.</p>
<p>how about you ask your buddy John McCaslin if he knows, or rather the executive editor Wes Pruden. Wes should know, he writes the little additions that would otherwize f.u.c.k his name</p>
<p>You know, taking a break from my "radical rightwing militant conservatism," I gotta say how much i love politics...</p>
<p>I hope i see all you guys at cornell next year so we can get drunk and argue...and hockey i hope u get in wit me so i can at least have one ally...</p>
<p>Back to arguing...all you liberals suck...animals are NOT citizens</p>
<p>roger that jake</p>
<p>my main complaint is with that dumb a$$ "iluvjesus".....just read what he says..'nuff said. As for the other conservatives......don't try characterizing liberals as their MOST EXTREME, inaccurate stereotypes with comments like "animals are not citizens".....umm well that's like saying to conservatives "why do consevatives believe in slavery?"...which is something i still don't get ...why do you conservatives believe in slavery? Why do you conservatives whip black people still? Why do conservatives supress minorities? Why do you conservatives trample over the rights of women? Why do you conservatives bash the rights of homosexuals? WHy do you conservatives rip off poor white-colllar workers? Why do you conservatives trample over the civil liberties of others?(see im just using extreme comments like you :) !</p>
<p>Oh rpp, you're raving!</p>