Lively Debate

The NY Times of all places has a nice article on the benefits of free trade, citing a study of both short and long term effects.

In the short term, there were some shifts in jobs. However, in the long term, overall employment was unaffected, wages went UP, not down, and productivity soared.

I have been fascinated by the drink robot at the McDonald's drive-through window, and now another McD's item has come to my attention via metafilter. Apparently, they are starting to outsource order taking in some restaurants.

I like this as an example of outsourcing because it is free of some of the emotional baggage associated with other forms of outsourcing. The work is staying in the United States. The jobs were "low paying" to begin with, although they are clearly taking advantage of geographic pay differentials. Nobody is going to think that a career "order taker" can't get a new job. And everyone has gone through the drive-through at McDonalds.

Brand Autopsy highlights some of the benefits of this change. This drive through is faster, presumably they can pass cost savings on to the customers, and the company can handle more customers in the same period of time.

So next time you hear someone ranting about the evils of outsourcing (say Lou Dobbs), what you have to remember is that consumers benefit more from lower prices and efficiency than workers lose. Far more people eat at McDonalds (billions served) than work there.

Consumers (thats you) are the hidden victims of anti-outsourcing efforts, whether the product is fast food, automobiles, or software.