Are Americans really against the outsourcing of jobs?

http://www.americaneconomicalert.org/news_item.asp?NID=3038929

This short article in the link above discusses the amount of jobs that have been lost in the Super Tuesday primary states under the Bush administration (although it fails to mention how many jobs have been gained to replace those which were lost).  The article has a negative overtone towards the outsourcing of jobs and basically sends the blame towards President Bush.  But, is the outsourcing of jobs to countries like China really President Bush's fault?

I will not go as far to say that the President's policies have had no effect on the outsourcing of jobs because they obviously have had some effect.  However, the blame should not fall solely on the Bush Administration or the Republican party.  The U.S. is a consumer driven society-that fact should go uncontested.  Ordinary citizens usually look for the lowest prices when they are shopping, regardless of whether they are shopping for clothes, groceries, electronics, etc.  Even if a person is looking for a particular name brand, he or she will wait until the product goes on sale if possible.  Everyone wants the lowest prices so they can save a few dollars.  Businesses know this fact.  Therefore, they go where they can produce goods for the cheapest and then they can offer lower prices to consumers in the U.S.  This leads to the outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing of products in Asia where labor is cheaper.  Then the products are imported back to the U.S. to be sold.  So in the end, Americans get lower priced items and they save a few dollars.  The downside to this is that people in the U.S. lose their manufacturing jobs to outsourcing because companies do not want to pay an American $15 an hour when they can pay a Chinese person $4 an hour.  While most people will generally speak out against outsourcing, those same individuals are the ones searching for lower priced goods and supporting the very companies which have outsourced their labor to other countries--seems a bit like hypocrisy to me.  So before we, as citizens, go blaming the government and the president for job losses due to outsourcing, maybe we should examine our own priorities and decide if we want lower priced goods or more jobs for those individuals that work in manufacturing.  We have the ability to choose . . . we have the ability to boycott . . . but will we?

By: Andy Thomas