Outsourcing is one of the largest concerns of modern day Americans. Both candidates in the most recent presidential campaign vowed to stop outsourcing and bring manufacturing jobs back to America, and President Trump has even made deals with companies to stay in America. These candidates used the widespread assumption that outsourcing is bad for the economy and the American workforce to play into the pockets of American voters. According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 80% of Americans believe outsourcing hurts American workers (Bahler). This assumption manifests itself from the numerous accounts of small manufacturing towns devastated from outsourcing. For instance, The Atlantic reported that in 1977, Youngstown, Ohio, “...lost 50,000 …show more content…
President Donald Trump has been praised for his most recent deal with the Indiana-based company Carrier. He promised the company $7 million in tax breaks to save 1,000 jobs (Casselman). While 1,000 jobs may seem like a victory, it would take thousands of deals to restore the amount of American jobs that have been lost to outsourcing. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, since 2001, “the expanded trade deficit with China cost the U.S. 3.2 million jobs, and three quarters of those jobs were in manufacturing” (Peralta). In order to replace the jobs lost to China alone, Trump would have to make the Carrier deal 3,200 more times. This would take years to create individualized deals with every company and would not create a sufficient supply of jobs for American workers. Not to mention the United States is losing valuable tax dollars that could be used to invest in job creation. In addition to not being effective, the government intervening in corporate America can actually hurt performance of American businesses. A study performed by Scott R. Baker at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, with Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University and Steven J. Davis of the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business illustrated that, “increased …show more content…
The devastation of American citizens is a large limitation to not interfering with outsourcing. The small, manufacturing town of Youngstown, Ohio, lost everything when in 1977, their steel mill shut down. The turmoil their town experienced, “...was so severe that a term was coined to describe the fallout: regional depression” (Thompson). Youngstown, Ohio is not alone when it comes to the desolation of towns, primarily in the Rust Belt, caused by outsourcing. From the year 2000, “millions of workers have lost manufacturing jobs paying $25 per hour plus health and retirement benefits” (Muro). Often times the alternative to these jobs are low-skilled service jobs that pay little more than half of what workers used to make and offer no benefits. It is no question that something needs to be done to combat the loss of income of American families due to outsourcing. There are government programs in place with this intention in mind, but the effectiveness of these programs has not been determined. Little can be done about the fact that jobs are leaving; however, the rate of growth of American jobs and the creation of new jobs can be increased with government investment. Instead of focusing on bringing jobs back, focusing on creating new ones will spur greater economic development and create a more prosperous