Re: How the world becomes wealthier (was Re: Offshoring: San Jose Mercury News article)

["Jo Francis Byrd" <jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com>]

I had two majors on my undergrad degree, one of them history. Nice thing
about being a history student, it gives you a perspective you might not have
otherwise. The world has seen this kind of job shift before. No, not
"offshoring"...the move from coal to electricity, the move in factories to
automation, the move to computers....the shift from one technology to
another. Every time there was a HUGE outcry. People lost jobs, slid into
poverty, suffered.

But, in every case, the shift ultimately resulted in more jobs, new jobs,
different jobs. Better paying jobs.

When the world became computerized, all sorts of dire predictions bounced
around. Computers were going to put millions of people out of work. Well,
yes, they did. But they put a lot more people to work, many of them making
at least decent money. Every one of us here on this list has benefited.

We're enduring one of those technology shifts. And, yes, it's horrible. We
will, most of us, suffer, at least a little. I went the better part of a
year without working. and, yes, it was my fault, I kept my  head in the sand
too long and refused to heed the winds of change. When I finally woke up and
smelled the coffee, I took a job at half my rate - back where I started ten
years ago. Once again I'm clawing my way back up the lucrative rate ladder.

Our world is changing. It's going to be painful. We can't change it. As the
old nautical saw goes, "Time and Tide wait for no one." We have to adapt, we
have to change, we have to leave our comfort zone and grow. And we'll
probably have to be dragged into the future kicking and screaming.

Jo Byrd


"Richard G. Combs" <richard -dot- combs -at- voyanttech -dot- com> wrote in part:

... The current changes are also creating jobs, and future changes will as
well. You're fooled by the fact that some economic events are easily seen
and others are unseen. When Acme Corp. announces layoffs due to outsourcing,
you see the 1000 jobs that are "lost" -- it happens all at once and makes
headlines.

But you forget that Acme, due to the savings, is producing the same output
for $20 million less (its productivity has increased). Therefore, Acme now
has $20 million to use in other ways. That freed-up money is going to be
used for *something* -- new ventures, research, expansion,... (Even if it's
all distributed to shareholders, they'll consume or invest it -- very few
people put money under their mattress these days.)

That new, different spending and investment will create new, different jobs.
But, you don't notice because they're created a few at a time, spread here
and there, and thus there are no headlines. (Well, if you read the business
news, you may have noticed there was a net gain of 100,000-odd jobs last
month. But it doesn't have the same impact as the headline "More Acme
Layoffs.")


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