We have just ended January of the New Year. The spin doctors are calling the Dow Jones Industrial Average's performance as the best of the 21st Century. And yet, it doesn't feel like prosperity has come back to the United States.
There are doubts of the recovery and for every piece of data which shows positive news; we have one which shows decline or decay.
I wouldn't be alone if I was to say that our recovery is partial or mild at best. In this hour of difficulty, America needs friends and support.
If we want the world to work with us, making enemies or antagonizing trade partners isn't the way forward.
I was appalled to hear President Barack Obama talking about his support for US House Bill 3696, or the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act. I hear you loud and clear that jobs are the critical need for the United States now. Without jobs, we would continue to struggle and no meaningful recovery can come about without a solid recovery in jobs.
Yet, when the United States goes after the call center jobs in Philippines and India, it is incredible how short-sighted the policy groundwork is. Let us analyze what is at hand here.
Most of the jobs that are being shipped overseas to call centers are paying less than minimum wage on average. The work being performed there is exhausting and is taking a serious toll on the physical well-being of the citizens there. While a job is a job, I am not sure that the prosperity of a nation can be achieved by minimum wage jobs.
I also wonder if the talk around outsourcing is anything but politicking.
Given that this is an election year, are the politicians clutching at straws? If America was to truly penalize outsourcing, costs for services in the United States would skyrocket and people would have to pay a lot more. That won't go down well for people struggling to make ends meet.
America didn't get to be the world leader by having millions of minimum wage jobs. America should stick to what it can lead the world by – technology, green energy and innovations.
Instead of protecting minimum wage jobs, it is time to focus on what America needs: true leadership in leading fields of energy and innovations.
If there are opportunities to bring jobs (real high paying jobs) back to the United States, it will be in the fields that cannot be outsourced, such as energy.
If we can truly innovate technology for extraction of natural gas, we can eliminate dependence on oil; solve our national security problems to a certain extent and bring about real progress in America. An added bonus would be that it won't annoy any of our trading partners and keep the warm and friendly relationship going.
It is time to get out of politics and concentrate on real growth in America.
But in the meanwhile, President Obama has given us a window of opportunity for investments. Outsourcing company stocks have taken a beating recently.
I don't believe that outsourcing can really stop, so it may be time to invest in these solid companies with good track records at bargain prices.
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