Outsourcing America

Choice Magazine

"Ron Hira (Rochester Institute of Technology) and Anil Hira (Simon Fraser Univ.) provide a balanced, comprehensive, and easy-to-read analysis of the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries. Though outsourcing has positive and negative consequences on the American economy, its extent and impact have not been clearly measured. The authors discuss major reasons they believe companies are moving jobs overseas: cost and salary savings, better or unique talent in countries such as China and India, tax incentives, access to emerging markets, immigration policies, and corporate strategies that no longer include workers. They recommend acknowledging that a problem exists, gathering outsourcing data, reforming visa and trade policies, adopting more pragmatic approaches to government procurement, supporting displaced workers, and training workers for the new technological economy. Several statistical tables and numerous corporate outsourcing examples are included. Appendixes define outsourcing and analyze key outsourcing studies and legislation."

The Public Register

"Here are many reasons why this book on overseas outsourcing is worth reading. Not the least of these is its interesting and rationally stated analysis of outsourcing’s impact on the U.S. economy."

Publishers Weekly

Two Ph.D.s weigh in on globalism's hottest button. In the Hiras' preface, they note that "Ronald Reagan made most Americans feel proud because he stood for American values, including supporting democracy and free markets abroad." That kind of giant, unexamined assertion does not bode well for a work purporting to be analytical, and this book is best read as a polemic. The economic arguments are legitimate, but following the CNN anchor's foreword calling for a moratorium on outsourcing, the two economist authors give subtle and not-so-subtle cues throughout, starting with the subtitle, that they find the practice dubious at best. Yet, in a refreshing change from the spate of protectionist conservatives calling for the end of outsourcing, the Hiras (they are brothers) offer a worker-friendly set of prescriptions that include adequate notice, legislated relief for displaced workers and-hold on to your desk chair-Canadian-style socialized medicine. A decidedly mixed bag, this book contains surprises. (May 26) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

If there is one word that terrifies American workers today, it's outsourcing. Ostensibly a new way for companies to cut costs, outsourcing is expected to move millions of jobs overseas in the next ten years. Outsourcing experts Ron Hira (public policy, Rochester Inst. of Technology) and Anil Hira (political science, Simon Fraser Univ.) have written an excellent book that brings clarity to this troubling subject. While providing a thorough summary of both pro and con arguments, they don't buy into the premise that outsourcing is either inevitable or necessary. They also demonstrate that it is very much a part of the whole globalization and free-trade debate, with mixed results for all trading participants. The authors acknowledge that while most studies seem to promote the positive effects of outsourcing, there has been very little discussion of the long-term consequences for the U.S. economy. Additionally, with companies overstating the gains and observers raising privacy concerns about sending medical records abroad, serious questions have arisen over the benefits of outsourcing. Given the ongoing debate, readers need a well-reasoned and sensible book like this to help them understand what outsourcing is and what it is not. Recommended for larger public libraries.-Richard Drezen, Washington Post/NYC Bureau Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.