NYT: Bush "FEELING NO PAIN" about outsourcing, jobs

[Bluebear]

by Paul Krugman

President Bush's main purpose in visiting India seems to have been to promote nuclear proliferation. But he also had some kind words for outsourcing. And those words help explain something that I know deeply puzzles the administration's political gurus: Mr. Bush's dismal polling on economic issues...

Here's what Mr. Bush said in India, when someone raised the question of the political backlash against outsourcing: "Losing jobs is painful, so let's make sure people are educated so they can find — fill the jobs of the 21st century. And let's make sure that there's pro-growth economic policies in place. What does that mean? That means low taxes; it means less regulation; it means fewer lawsuits; it means wise energy policy."

O.K., so you're a 50-year-old worker whose job has just been outsourced, and Mr. Bush tells you that you should go get a 21st-century education and rejoice in the joys of a lawsuit-free economy. Uh-huh.
Actually, Mr. Bush's remarks were even more off-key than they seem, coming during a visit to India. India's surge into world markets hasn't followed the pattern set by other developing nations, which started their export drive in low-tech industries like clothing. Instead, India has moved directly into industries that advanced countries like the United States thought were their exclusive turf. When Business Week put together a list of areas "where India has made an impact ... and where it's going next," that list consisted almost entirely of high-technology activities like software and chip design.

What this means is that American workers whose jobs are threatened by Indian competition are, in many cases, people who thought they already had acquired the skills to "fill the jobs of the 21st century" — but have just discovered that Indians, who are paid about a tenth as much, also have those skills.
Mr. Bush once joked that his base consisted of the "haves and the have-mores." But it wasn't much of a joke. His remarks in India show that he really can't imagine what it's like not to be a member of a privileged economic elite.



http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/03/06/opinion/06krugman.html

[Stephanie]

1. who's the columnist?

ahem. :)

[Bluebear]

2. That would be . . .

:) OP updated

[Coexist]

3. 1/10 the pay.

Imagine that.

Enjoy your mangoes.

[Bluebear]

4. We're all looking forward to those mangoes.

El Pretzeldente has spoken.

[JohnyCanuck]

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[greenbriar]

6. its hard to feel pain when one is high

or drunk

[Just Me]

7. If he actually suffered ANY consequences for his misdeeds,...

,...he'd be in freakin' prison or a back alley drowning in a bottle.

If ONLY he actually HAD TO COMPETE AGAINST THE REST OF US!!!