What About the Jobs?

"It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."

    - Noel Coward (1899-1973), English actor

Steve Chapman, of the Chicago Tribune, has written an informative column about outsourcing American jobs, one of the hot topics in the presidential campaign this year.

"Many people assume any job that migrates from America to another country permanently diminishes our employment base. Hence the furor over White House economic adviser Greg Mankiw's remark that 'outsourcing' of jobs to other countries 'is probably a plus for the economy in the long run.' But the angry reaction is just a reminder of journalist Michael Kinsley's adage that in Washington, a gaffe is not when someone tells a lie--it's when someone tells the truth."

Chapman points out that disappearing jobs is not some new phenomenon in America, that our economy typically loses and creates 7 to 8 million jobs every quarter:

"We shouldn't mourn the anticipated loss of 3.3 million jobs while ignoring the vastly more numerous positions that will replace them. I say this even though some of those lost jobs may be in my profession."

Editors at The Economist agree with Chapman's advice and cite economists William Baumol, Alan Blinder and Edward Wolff in their book, Downsizing in America: Reality, Causes and Consequences:

"...the creation of new jobs always overwhelms the destruction of old jobs by a huge margin."

Jobs will continue going overseas, but, as Chapman says, "A nation doesn't prosper by spending lots of money to produce goods or provide services that foreigners can offer for less."

Take a look at both articles for additional insight on this important issue. There's more to it than meets the eye.