Step right up folks. I couldn't help but notice that this "economic downturn" really hit the big time when jobs started getting outsourced. This is a particularly perplexing riddle in the case of call center jobs, where communicating clearly in the language of the customer would seem to be a benefit.
For example: In around 2006, one large bank conducted a test run of call center agents in the Phillipines. Those agents failed every measure of customer satisfaction (the minimum rating for a US agent was 86%, the Manilla agents averaged 15%) and efficiency.
BUT, an agent in Manilla is paid US 1.40 an hour, whereas an agent here starts at US 10.00 an hour. The jobs went to Manilla, about 2000+ Americans went on unemployment.
This happened in automotive and manufacturing industries as well.

So, my solution is to enforce a tax for outsourced employment. That tax should be the equivalant of 20k per year, per employee.
Then, one of two things will happen-
1. The jobs will come back to the US.
2. The economy will be paid down with the taxes.

See? Cure-all.

Lot more to it than that, really, but it's a nice thought.

They'll figure out how to avoid paying it. I worked for awhile as a customer support person with computers, the jobs were brought back from India. The story told publicly was the company wanted to provide the highest level of customer service. Here is the reality. The company wanted to expand into regions of the US where they did not have internet and phone service under their name. The US told them that they had to bring the jobs back to the US before they would be allowed to move into these regions so the negotiated agreement was to bring them back for five years and then keep it here IF it was more profitable to do so (right). The company, one of the largest in the world, forced the union to comply with terms that made the jobs basically no more attractive in pay and benefits than working at Walmart, that is right, union gig, Walmart pay and benefits. The employee is not really protected until a year of employment but they ended up with two types of employee. Those who had the year under their belt in other jobs such as operators who transfered over to the internet part of the business and were not under the same contract as the 'new' employees andthe new employees. In the first year of operation they brought in over 300 employees, and FIRED over 200 (including myself) prior to them getting to the first year. The ones left behind were either very lucky or transfers. If you think for a minute those jobs will not be gone as soon as possible and back in India then you are fooling yourself (not you Critter, you as in general).

So tax 'em, raise the harbor tax, start charging a duty rate on imports and give the companies in North America a chance to compete because Asia can compete on cost not quality, not on their best day.

Aw, liberal patent medicine!
Everyone knows the way to solve ANY problem, from unemployment to hangnails, is to CUT TAXES!

I'm proud to be a liberal!

I think it is unworkable. How do you define an outsourced employee, when the offending companies are multinational to start with?

But there has been talk on using taxation in other ways as a means to encourage companies to stop outsourcing, and repatriating jobs:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/28/news/eco......ndex.htm

Of course, I think that went nowhere.

Speaking of outsourcing, "Outsourced" is a great (well, at least pretty good) movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425326/

It inspired the far inferior TV series of the same name.

Obviously, I'm no economist. Math is my only weakness. I actually think it's a good premise, but it would take more expert folk than me to iron out the fine details. Might not even work at all. I don't know.

Doesn't the term liberal in political economics refer to spending liberally?
I was originally thinking of a fine, but I don't think that would go over as well. So this is the opposite of a parking infraction. A parking infraction is a tax disguised as a fine, my idea is a fine disguised as a tax

Finally, my job being outsourced was just the kick in the pants I needed to get me back into school.

By the way, and this is a little off topic but not entirely as it does tie in with taxation, if you want to try your hand at fixing the deficit / debt problem, try this fun interactive challenge:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/......inreview

I solved the debt problem easily and had 400+ billion to spare!

You can't figure out the employee question because the company will just say "we were able to hire an additional 300 employees in India if we stayed in the states we would only have one customer service rep". The problem are with the manufacturing jobs being lost not the call center jobs which are relatively low paying gigs. Free trade means companies can move their manufacturing overseas, have the goods made cheaper and of lower quality but the lower cost makes people accept the fact that the things they buy are crap. They remove tariffs which reduces the cost to the corporations which adds to profits and reduces the dollars brought in by customs. The size and value of shipments out of Asia increase but, ah ha, the harbor tax has a maximum that is pretty low so the small importers take the hit as a percentage of value while the max is quickly hit by the larger guys (my own old company being one of them) so again as a percentage it gets lower and lower. Since manufacturing is done overseas the raw material suppliers no longer have goods coming into the US which would have tarrifs applied or were supplied by US sub contractors and those are now provided from one Asian country to another. This reduces outbound shipments, exports, again pushing the GNP out of whack even further. Then the big dollar equipment that use to be provided by US companies move their operations to Asia and again more jobs lost, more supplies provided by non North American countries, more US suppliers reducing headcount if they do not completely shut down all but R and D and corporate offices in the US and Canada.

It is a food chain in a sense, you start removing parts of the chain then either the entire chain dies or it shifts to a different place where the chain can reorganize. There are now common products that the chief value consisted of US goods a couple years ago and now have zero US components in them. It isn't quality that caused the manufacturing to leave, it wasn't the workers, it was a pure profit motive and that motive was increased by steps taken by the govt and either they were oblivious or flat out didn't care. I guess it doesn't matter if assembly is done in unstable regions as long as those profits rise rise rise! When a war breaks out in the region, and it eventually will, just like the housing bubble went (No they said, it will never bust) you have a country, China, who is involved heavily with two of the most unstable regions being along the India border and with Taiwan. You have North Korea, an unstable and huge military ran country who is pals with China sitting a half hour from Seoul. You have India next to another bastion of rational thinking, Pakistan, the Japanese have Korea and China wanting to get even for WW2...geezus. When that cork pops and NOTHING is available what'cha going to do? Heck, my ship the USS New Jersey was put out of commission along with other battleships because, surprise surprise, there was no way to get replacement bores for the 16 inch guns! The companies who could do it were closed down in the US and the equipment sold to China and there goes the ships.

I don't want to see people taxed, but these corporations have their finger in the air and are shaking at us every day and we eat it up cuz cheap is good and those that still have their jobs really, honestly, do not care about those who have lost their jobs. Puerto Rico has special tax breaks for companies that reach a certain level of production in their island. Thailand has the board of investment and requires a 'deposit' of sorts in order to ensure that imported manufacturing goods are exported or the exporter loses money because they know that exports are good for them. Australia has their Ad Valorum, Europe their 'STUST', which stands for Screw The US Tax, to increase consumption of non US made goods, China is pulling all kinds of crap, India is redoing customs tariffs a year after the fact, Malaysia has it set up that everything goes through their official warehouse which cost companies a bit more above duties. The US and Canada sits around (I'm only including Canada because they lost a lot of manufacturing) afraid to do a dang thing to protect their industries other than freakin red cedar and now it is too late because we are such an evil force in the world. I'm sick and tired of it to be honest. I'm sick of not having jobs out there and I'm sick of having a quarter century of experience and not being able to get a job as a clerk and not having a dime to my *** name. I'd through all the companies that moved offshort the hell out of the US, let them set up in India if they like it so much.

Yeah I only mentioned the call centers because that's what I had first hand experience with.
The manufacturing is major. And the automotive.
And yet, I still shop at the big chains so I guess I'm part of the problem.
I do support local businesses too when it's economically feasible though.

You really have no choice but the issue is origin of goods so it doesn't matter for the most part if it is a local store or Walmart. You are not part of the problem to be honest, you buy what you buy and you pay what they charge. I wear sweats at home and would still do so if the price doubled. I worked in a call center as well, I loved it, everyone else hates it there for some reason. I don't get it.

And in the mean time, they'll keep raising the minimum wage.

Gee, thanks for that contribution....

Where? Washington State is currently being sued by big business for attempting to implement the standard minimum wage increase. Were ya' bein' sarcastic?

Critter, do you think he is against a minimum wage because it is dictated by the govt? I'd ask him but he won't answer a direct question....

Could be. All I know is that was out of left friggin field.

Really? Why do you think so many jobs go over seas, or taken by illegals? Because they are willing to work for less than artificially imposed minimum wages.

Dear god....

He's one of your Balducci.... still I like him better than Michael Mystic...