>SNIP
>> I think the only way we can compete with the Chinas and Indias is either to bring them up to our level of salaries or bring us down. Unfortunately, bringing us down appears to be mch more easily accomplished.
>
>Can you imagine the effect of U.S. factories in China paying their employees American wages???

Well you really don't have to worry about that, Tracy, because if they even come close to half-way to the avergae U.S. wage the manufacturing will be out of there in an instant!

"Outsourcing" is not a new thing. It was probably 25 years ago that most of the U.S. airlines sent all of their data-entry stuff to China (on their own planes headed there anyway). It didn't matter that the workers there knew no English because all they had to do was transcribe what they saw on paper to the same thing on the keyboard. They were very good at it and the cost savings were enormous for the airlines. Of course that is not needed today, but all it has done is to grow to more 'sophisticated' work, like call centres and programming.
It won't be too long before radio station's content all comes from off-shore (put together there), then TV.
And as robots are developed that do medical operations, those will be done from off-shore too (there have already been several simpler operations done by robot here, at least one even from another building).

Soon the only jobs available here will be the jobs that CANNOT be moved - garbage collectors, street cleaners, delivery peple, sales people, newspaper printing/distribution (unless replaced by internet 'papers') and stuff like that.
All this in the name of growing corporate PROFITS.
I feel very badly for my kids and grandkids.