I agree with Friedman that David Ricardo was right about comparative advantage and it still applies today. If your country sticks with what they do best, other countries can do what you may be lacking on. You can then trade with other countries, and everyone benefits. This is something I learned in elementary and high school, and I believe it still applies today. What good does it do to try and make something that does not easily come for your country? I feel that we should tear down the walls against outsourcing and offshoring that may still exist in people’s minds.
Education is necessary for Americans to stay ahead and have better jobs that are not outsourced. Some people may think that if everyone is prospering with free-trade, then everyone will be making more money and there will be no one left to perform the jobs such as manufacturing. This is not true. As more people’s wages go up, then they will want to buy more things. So, we still need people to manufacture items. Maybe the manufacture workers’ wages will rise as well, but we still need things being produced. I was a little concerned with this chapter because the Chinese and Indians are racing us to the top, and I thought they may take all our “good jobs.” However, after reading this chapter, I do not think this will be a huge threat. However, we have to remain smart because the bar is going to rise along with standards.
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I originally felt the same way you did, that outsourcing was taking our jobs away. This chapter did bring up some relevant points that helped sway me in the other direction. Although, I am still worried that we take advantage of comparative advantage to its fullest extent we may loose an aspect of humanity in our own country. Secondly, what if political turmoil in countries with governments less stable than ours unflattenes the world and eliminates trade for some reason, would there be anyone in our country that would know how to do those things we used to outsource? Or would we all die because we all forgot how to grow a garden?
So true. After reading this chapter, I really didn't understand how the con side to outsourcing could really hold an argument. I'm pretty sure I've learned in one of the many economics classes I've taken since high school that if you make what you're good at and buy what you're not, you'll both benefit. That's exactly what we're doing, so what's the problem?
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