Letter to the Editor
August 25, 2003

Commenting on The Politics of Outsourcing from the August 18th issue of Larta Vox.

Your article was quite descriptive of the issues involved with outsourcing, but stopped short of some of the broader issues and solutions.

I have worked with outstanding engineers in the Far East. However, unlike blue-collar work, experiential knowledge counts greater in engineering. Five years of outsourcing is five years lost here of experiential knowledge.

If we are to live in a true free-market, then let us shop for all professional services. For example, I would like better yet cheaper legal and accounting services, but job-protection rules from the American Bar prohibit less-expensive attorneys from Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, India or other countries from practicing here. Meanwhile, we allow high-technology development that may be used as a component in a defense project go to China.

If we are to outsource and practice free-market capitalism, let's do it for all industries and not just those without the political clout.

Mitch Williams
3D-Online

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