Those were good links Jack. Numbers can be confusing, especially when it comes to economics, and especially especially when the numbers are being used by politicians.

I like the straight talk you get from the gov't economists though. The lady that said outsourcing is not a big deal, that it is part of a dynamic economy, is talking straight. We are going to lose jobs to developing countries as they progress - the alternative would be stifling their economic development through protectionist policies and/or using those countries only for raw materials. Some people credit that tendency in the past for some of the current animosity of poor nations towards the US.
What all that progress in the third world means for US workers is that they need to be retrained in more value added industry (hi-tech, aerospace, etc...). In practice it appears that most of the job growth is in service industries, however.
On an individual level it can be painful for the manufacturing worker who loses his job, but it is progress. Unless of course, we all just start crying and demand gov't assistance, then we're just screwed.
I'm telling everybody stuff thay already know, huh?

Last edited by BigWill; 09/18/04 04:23 PM.