Paul Edwards ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
: Well, it looks like the people in India have to worry about more
: terrorists, too. See
: http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/25/mumbai.blasts/index.html.
: Now that they have off-shored all our jobs, would you like to have your
: company's software support, migration, development, or call center over
: there?
General Electric and Friends are given credit for the abrupt cessation of
nuclear saber-rattling between India and Pakistan in this New York Times
article:
http://www.indiapac.us/aug1102.html
IndiaPAC
"The New York Times (August 11, 2002)
India, Pakistan And G.E.
By Thomas L. Friedman
"BANGALORE, India Two months ago India and Pakistan appeared headed
for a nuclear war. Colin Powell, the U.S. secretary of state and a
former general, played a key role in talking the two parties back from
the brink. But here in India, I've discovered that there was another
new, and fascinating, set of pressures that restrained the Indian
government and made nuclear war, from its side, unthinkable. Quite
simply, India's huge software and information technology industry,
which has emerged over the last decade and made India the back-room
and research hub of many of the world's largest corporations,
essentially told the nationalist Indian government to cool it. And the
government here got the message and has sought to de-escalate ever
since. That's right in the crunch, it was the influence of General
Electric, not General Powell, that did the trick.
[snip]
"We don't get involved in politics," said Vivek Kulkarni, the
information technology secretary for Bangalore, "but we did bring to
the government's attention the problems the Indian I.T. industry might
face if there were a war. . . . Ten years ago [a lobby of I.T.
ministers] never existed."
To be sure, none of this guarantees there will be no war. Tomorrow,
Pakistani militants could easily do something so outrageous and
provocative that India would have to retaliate. But it does guarantee
that India's leaders will now think 10 times about how they respond,
and if war is inevitable, that India will pay 10 times the price it
would have paid a decade ago.
In the meantime, this cease-fire is brought to you by G.E. and all its
friends here in Bangalore."
U.S. corporations buy political risk insurance that indemnifies them against
both civil & international war, as well as nationalization of assets, thanks
to a little-known government agency, the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC):
http://www.opic.gov/insurance/welcome.htm
OPIC Insurance Main Page
"OPIC'S OBJECTIVE:
To promote and facilitate U.S. investment in emerging market economies
by helping businesses manage risk.
Expertise
"Interest in political risk is growing rapidly, driven by investors'
reluctance to invest in emerging market debt in the aftermath of the
financial crisis in Asia, Russia and Latin America. Although the
crises were not caused by any sovereign exchange controls, investors
are nevertheless seeking additional coverage for sovereign risk."
- Standard & Poor's
Risk (risk), n. 1. Exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard
or dangerous chance. Risk in today's increasingly global marketplace
can take many different forms. Risk is a very real factor in business
and investor decision making, and managing that risk is paramount to
the ultimate success or failure of any international activity. Whether
it is the expropriation or nationalization of your assets or losses
that result from politically motivated violence such as civil or
international wars, these risks affect businesses across the globe
every day. OPIC Political Risk Insurance provides the security and
peace of mind necessary to pursue opportunities in emerging markets,
places where the rules of the game can change drastically and
suddenly."
That "peace of mind" should make people feel better about the U.S. and
other G-7+ countries relocating their blue and white collar jobs to India,
Russia, Communist China, et. al.
: Also, HP has sent most of their applications to Bangalore.
:
Ann Livermore's statement leave little doubt of HP's intentions:
http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/12/05/cz_qh_1205hp.html
Forbes.com: The New HP Way: World's Cheapest Consultants
"NEW YORK - Tech giant Hewlett-Packard has seen the future of
technology consulting. It's on the other side of the globe and it's
really, really cheap.
"We're trying to move everything we can offshore," HP Services chief
Ann Livermore told Wall Street analysts at a meeting Wednesday. "We're
aggressively realigning our resources." Short term, that means adding
to the software and services personnel HP (nyse: HPQ - news - people )
already has in India. Further out, HP expects China to also turn into
a major consulting center..."
: They are having problems finding enough HP 3000 trained technical people
: over there. Maybe they should send the jobs back to us.
The current practice is to bring foreign tech workers over on L-1 visas,
and make the U.S. workers train them as a condition to receive their
severance pay:
http://businessweek.com/careers/content/mar2003/ca2003036_6655.htm
BW Online | March 6, 2003 | A Mainframe-Size Visa Loophole
:
: Safer here and lots of properly trained people.
:
: I'm still looking for work.
:
Me too, along with many others. Gun-smithing might be a valuable
trade to learn for the upcoming revolution/civil war.
BTW, many people are suprised to learn that India, Inc. has over 100
members of Congress on its payroll, known as the Congressional Caucus
on India:
http://www.indiapac.us/
IndiaPAC
"Welcome to America's Pro-India Lobby..."
Surely there's a pro-America lobby in India's Parliament. ;-)
Here's a roster of the Congressional Caucus on India:
http://www.indiapac.us/caucus.html
IndiaPAC
MEMBERS OF INDIA CAUCUS 2002
Jim McDermott, Co-Chairman
D-Washington
Staff: John Larmett
Phone: 202-225-3106
Fax: 202-225-6197
Email: www.house.gov/writerep
[snip]
Albert Wynn
D-Maryland
Staff: Alon Kupferman
Phone: 202-225-8699
Fax: 202-225-8714
Email: www.house.gov/writerep "
There's another version of the IndiaPAC roster at:
http://crowley.house.gov/issues/india.htm
Representative Crowley: Issues: Foreign Affairs: India
The number of U.S. worker-friendly politicians can be counted on the fingers
of one hand. One is Congressman Bernie Sanders:
http://www.bernie.house.gov/documents/releases/20030512181648.asp
Corporate Tactics to Better Bottomline Cost Millions of American Jobs
--Jerry Leslie (my opinions are strictly my own)
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"We don't have a democracy, we have an auction." - anon
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