F*rd comin' back to the USA?
the politician who thought of outsourcing should really be held for treason......
I don't think it was a politician who came up with it...pretty sure Jack Welch of GE popularized outsourcing (at least in the Software industry - then everyone jumped on the GE style bandwagon (which has many other awful ideas besides outsourcing incorporated)):
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB111151806639186539
Before that, I think it was mostly manufacturing that was getting outsourced (e.g. several of my not-yet-vintage US made cars made in Canada), the maquiladora program in Mexico (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora ), the fact there hasn't been a US made TV since probably Heath Kit in the 80s (and those kits were full of parts made overseas).
We need to decide if we're happier with $169 32" LED TVs (walmart.com), or if we're willing to buy the same TV for $499 (or whatever it would cost to get them built here) in exchange for more jobs.
The other factor is that corporations are managed (and senior managers compensated/graded) on quarterly results and stockholder value - not on doing things that are for the long-term health of the company. Cutting expenses is easier than increasing revenue...at least for a while. Then, they come to outsource you...
Nice to see some companies moving things back this way - the market needs to support it (by buying these products) for it to be sustainable.