Comments on: Is a global high-tech work force bad for U.S.?

Experts torn about the impact of a swell of skilled workers in foreign countries and a drop in some U.S. advanced degrees.

Look a law and medical salaries in foreign countries

Medical and law salaries are much less in foreign coutries. Individuals are still encourage to enter technical professions. In the US where the medical salaries and law salaries have been protected, individuals are moving to those professions. This makes sense.

The question is where is the real value and benefit created? Statistics show that the US pays more than anyone for medical care yet the life expectancy and quality of life is not proportional. What value is created in a courtroom?

Without crating value on a global scale, the US will have a problem as consumer. Why should China continue to support our lifestyle?

[concernedcitizen]

Foreign Leadership = US Follower

"If you happen to be that person who loses their job or doesn't invent the next Web browser because some Chinese person invents it, you may personally lose, but the economy as a whole may benefit," he (David Weinstein) said.

Wrong! China's GRP increases, US GRP decreases. It's not just about one person losing, it's about the Chinese econcomy benefition MORE than the US economy.

[concernedcitizen]

typo

"benefiting MORE than the US economy."

[R. U. Sirius]

Good point

> Wrong! China's GRP increases, US GRP decreases.
> It's not just about one person losing, it's
> about the Chinese econcomy benefition MORE than
> the US economy.

Apologists for offshoring keep pushing the idea that 1 +1 = 3.

Your point is good, and it's not something you hear about in the typical media discussion around this subject. There is no way that declining salaries in the US and loss of manufacturing capability are a good thing for our economy (which is consumer based) overall.

[snagrajn]

Can be bad for the world if US people don't pay attention

The answer to the question is not simple. It requires a deeper learning from the history. There was a time in history when India was the leading country for learning. Systematically that position got eroded. Today US is leading learning in the world--with the benefit of getting the best minds from the world some time ago. The work that gets exported are not often the most creative, but the most transactional work. As a result, both locations will not develop deep creative capabilities and ecosystems. The disruptive innovation centers like the AT&T Bell Labs and the Xerox PARC are slowly getting to be non-existent. Their equivalents are not coming up anywhere else in the world either. This is a bad trend. Service economy is a short-term economy. Service economy can only amplify and lubricate a strong agro- and industrial-economy. In the process, if we distroy the fundamentals, for all nations it can be bad in the long run. My 2c worth of observation.