Economics

Back in the dot-com boom one of the accompanying, hot trends was “free agent” work status. Work for whomever you wanted, when you wanted. Be your own boss; escape stifling corporate culture. In fact, some predicted that work as we know it would come to an end. All that worked pretty well when there were lots of tasks to be ...

Okay. Now it’s official. WIRED magazine’s cover story for February is about offshoring, so it must be for real. The article, “The New Face of the Silicon Age,” is pretty interesting with interviews of IT types in both India and the US. But the author, Daniel Pink, emphasizes this is about the global economy, not just IT. Eventually Pink gets ...

Fast Company The defining political issue for America in the next decade has arrived now, courtesy of India, China, and any number of aspiring developing nations. That issue is offshore outsourcing–not of blue-collar factory guys, but of well-paid knowledge workers. It is a question that will get traction in November’s elections. It will only grow bigger and more divisive. And: ...

Here’s another article about offshoring by a Ha’vad Business Review guy. But even more interesting to read, I think, is the responses to his article by readers. This isn’t just an academic discussion for economics professors and pundits. Real people are in the middle of this. Hmm. Come to think of it, aren’t we all in the middle of it?