I have traveled most of the world and have seen people in countries with far less the we (Canada & USA & Europe) accomplish miracles with what they have - far less than we do - wait till they get "tooled up." Besides exporting our *purchasing power* what we are doing when we "offshore" or "outsource," is getting rid of the very thing which makes us productive - experience. I have a senior position in the software industry where this is rampant and the conventional wisdom says that we will "Manage it form here and do the work there." The problem is that *good* managers have experience behind them - when you export the entry level stuff, you are also exporting the tasks that give you experience - our educational systems are not equipped to fill the gap. The people who will be the best managers are the ones who came up through the ranks. I can't tell you how many MBA or Ph.D. people I know who understand the
*theory* but can't open a tin can (metal content) without creating a disaster. In the end, if the trend continues, we're going to have our lunch handed to usJust my .02
Tom