04 Jun 2005
BW posts on outsourcing woes, and I responded with the following comment:
Now the westerners are the ones airing their woes. I remember there
used to be a time (or is it still that way these days) when Pinoy
activists aggressively voiced out their disdain for this buzzword
called “globalization” (that’s globalisation to Brits, Aussies, Canadians, and Indians, mind you).
Now it is becoming clearer by the minute that the countries with less expensive labor (ok, labour) are those that have the comparative advantage in labor-intensive industries, and even knowledge-based ICT.
And
even if the barriers to full factor (i.e. capital, labor, knowledge)
mobility will never be completely torn down given geographic,
political, and social circumstances, we are continuously gearing toward
a state near this ideal.
However, somehow, I can relate with the
advocacies represented by the afore-mentioned activism. It is the more
developed world, after all, that wields more political leverage and
economic influence. So even with our comparative advantage, firms and
industries may still opt to keep jobs within their borders. So it’s not
a debate only within the economic arena, after all, but one that
involves politics of will and diplomacy.
That’s international and socio-political economics at work!
What’s next? Outsourcing of bloggers?
Are you a shutterbug? Study digital photography.
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