Quote (sylvannos @ Feb 16 2017 02:56pm)

One thing I've been thinking about lately is how having a worldwide standard of living would bring jobs back into the country.

Right now, it's easier for companies to outsource labor to places where workers don't have things like a minimum wage, weekends, workers' comp, etc. like we do here in the States.

If places like China had to treat there workers like they do in the U.S., it would no longer be viable for a company to outsource jobs. Furthermore, illegal immigration wouldn't really be a thing if you were given the same benefits of working in Brazil as you would if you worked in the U.S. People would still move around to escape war and violence, but you wouldn't be limited in your options of where to run.

Of course, this requires every country on the planet to adopt workers' rights, which is something places like North Korea or Somalia aren't exactly going to be on board with.

Quote (Brian_D @ Feb 16 2017 10:58pm)

Quote (sylvannos @ Feb 16 2017 09:56pm)

One thing I've been thinking about lately is how having a worldwide standard of living would bring jobs back into the country.

Right now, it's easier for companies to outsource labor to places where workers don't have things like a minimum wage, weekends, workers' comp, etc. like we do here in the States.

If places like China had to treat there workers like they do in the U.S., it would no longer be viable for a company to outsource jobs. Furthermore, illegal immigration wouldn't really be a thing if you were given the same benefits of working in Brazil as you would if you worked in the U.S. People would still move around to escape war and violence, but you wouldn't be limited in your options of where to run.

Of course, this requires every country on the planet to adopt workers' rights, which is something places like North Korea or Somalia aren't exactly going to be on board with.

Quote (emrecant @ Feb 16 2017 02:01pm)

How can you make workers in India get paid the same as a worker in the US?

Quote (Brian_D @ Feb 16 2017 10:59pm)

Good post. I agree.

Quote (sylvannos @ Feb 16 2017 10:06pm)

That question is as nonsensical as "How can workers in California get paid the same as workers in Washington?"

They don't get paid the same, they get paid at least a bare minimum with basic rights (weekends, overtime, etc.).

The thing is, there's no minimum wage or worker's rights in India or China. Your boss can make you work for 18 hours a day for $1 and fire you if you lose an arm in a piece of machinery.

Quote (emrecant @ Feb 16 2017 02:09pm)

It was a trick question intended to trap you. Workers will be paid far more in the West even with those rights, so it will still be rational for firms to stay in those countries. It would only succeed in making it relatively less profitable to not come back.

Quote (sylvannos @ Feb 16 2017 10:19pm)

If it costs $5 less to make something in China, but then $20 to ship it to the U.S., a company is going to just manufacture a product in the U.S.

The only reason a company outsources is because they can pay a worker $1 for 15 hours in one day of labor, versus $120 for that same 15 hours broken up over 2 days here in the U.S. They also don't have to worry about stuff like severence pay or workers' comp insurance after they fire someone for being injured on the job, something that's super fucking illegal here in the U.S.