Attention Economy


Friday, September 27, 2019

Globalization and Offshoring - Reality versus Hype

The White-Collar Job Apocalypse That Didn’t Happen
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/27/business/economy/jobs-offshoring.html
NYTIMES piece notes:
Economists once warned that office jobs in the United States would soon follow factory jobs in moving overseas. New research suggests that jobs may be moving to other parts of the country instead.

New Research Finding: Overboard on Offshore Fears
https://www.upwork.com/press/economics/report-overboard-on-offshore-fears/

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It is rather strange that the NYTIMES article fails to mention the numerous debates that occurred in the mid-2000s over the issue of offshoring. It only presents Alan Blinder’s hypothesis – which was not necessarily the mainstream view even back in 2006-2007. In fact, noted Columbia University economist Bhagwati strongly disagreed with Blinder’s basic hypothesis regarding potential job losses arising from offshoring (click on hyperlink below):

So did Harvard’s Greg Mankiw:
THE POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING by N. Gregory Mankiw and Phillip Swagel