February 4, 2004

Outsourcing programming jobs

Interesting thoughts on outsourcing programming jobs from Marginal Revolution: bq. Computer programmers are a highly paid lot in the United States. Both the U.S. and India would be better off if lower-wage Indians did more of the programming and the U.S. did more innovating. Read here about tech executive Marc Andreesen, who is willing to come out and offer three cheers for outsourcing. From the USA Today article linked in the quote from Tyler's website: bq. That belief is based on a widely accepted theory — the theory of comparative advantage — that goes back to David Ricardo, a brilliant 19th-century economist who seems not to be related to Ricky. bq. Though, as Ricky Ricardo might say, let me do some 'splainin. bq. Let's say the USA is really good at two different things, software programming and creating innovative technology. And let's say India is also good at both. Because Indians don't get paid nearly as much as Americans, India can do each job at a far lower cost compared with the USA. Read the rest - it's quite good... UPDATE: Mr. Instapundit himself, Glen Reynolds links to a National Center for Policy Analysis article which says the same thing... Posted by DaveH at February 4, 2004 1:13 PM