To the IT winners, the lotra

Dear Editor,

The world has become smaller than it used to be due to IT. But it has also become a better world for all not just a few living in western countries. When IT profits countries like UK or the US the author thinks IT work is great , but when the spoils start spilling to the likes of India or china , the author thinks it needs to be stopped. Why dosn't he realise for every job lost in the west there are two created in the east and intelligent companies like microsoft and intel are reaping benefits by investing in the east.

You have readers in the east as well , like me , so i guess you are doing great injustice to them by publishing this article where the author assumes that people in developed countries are only eligible to do IT work while others are not. While the underdeveloped countries import bulk of their goods from developed countries, any small change in the equation is loathed by people like the author of this article who seems to be so selfish and self centred and seem to be suffering depression on becoming redundant. It is said that " there is always room at the roof" , so if the author or people like him get some useful skill , they can always get work , like most people affected by this change rather than living in the past.

Also he should go to South Australia and see govt work is done much better there because of outsourcing to EDS rather than just crying about outsourcing.

Sumit Gupta
New Delhi , India. Email address supplied

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dear sir: i read both your excellent articles on outsourcing of IT support services to low cost countries with great interest as i come from an irish/indian background, originally brought up in india but now living in england. you have tried to conclude that on the whole outsourcing is detrimental to "customer countries" as a consequence of loss of jobs, loss of taxes and higher social security costs to the "customer countries".

obviously you are not a regular reader of the "economist" or you would have by now realized that the entire world economy runs on the principle of goods and services being offered at the best possible performance price ratio by the business (in whichever country) that can meet this goal most economically to who ever needs it.

it is this principle that is the bedrock of world trade. i notice that the folk from good ole blighty prefer to buy an intel processors made in malaysia and designed by scientists originally from india and china who are working for an american company which till recently was run by a hungarian refugee rather than an acorn or an amstrad computer(do these names ring a bell?). no doubt the demise of the acorns and the BBC micros led to a lot of unemployment and fall in revenue for the british govt. i did not here you complain about this. of course it did not matter becuse the business was after all going to another "white country"

"The most overt example of government endorsement of outsourcing in general and encouraging offshore outsourcing comes from the Australian government......" what about the businesses within the outsourcers who now can survive to compete another day due to the reduction in costs and greater efficiencies as a result; and the jobs saved as a result of these companies still surviving rather than going the british leyland way.the ozzies obviously know that it is better to lose a few jobs and have a viable business rather than lose it all and go back to kangaroo farming.

"The most worrying factor is that these predictions were probably made on the basis of the events at the time - late 2002 - and do not take into account any continuing slump in the economies of the USA and Western Europe".

you have used the word "worrying factor". and pray why are you worried? shouldn't you be happy that an indian who otherwise might have starved due to lack of social security would now become prosperous? or are you worried that the god given right of a white man to lord it over others is slowly being eroded?

"Certainly some displaced people will find other jobs, but it is difficult to see how a large number of these people could move to higher jobs and help the country become "knowledge workers" which is what some analysts claim. We are, initially at least, talking of lower levels of IT work such as data-entry and software development".

"From all the above, it would seem that governments are unconcerned about IT work going offshore and locals losing their jobs. In all three cases the government seems far more concerned about the financial advantages to the country as a whole. It really does seem very short-sighted, because governments will have to bear the bunt of some of the consequences of these actions. Perhaps like governments almost everywhere, they really don't care about future problems because in all probability another set of politicians will have to deal with them".

you also fail to mention that the highly intelligent people from the supplier countries who are willing to work as hard but for less money are now likely to spend their new found wealth on consumer products from the "customer countries" such as bovril, marmite and pink gin and will also demand to see tv shows and film shows such as "yes minister" and "carry on doctor". surely the increased business accruing to the BBC and to the the marmite industry would more than compensate for the back office functions of british airways and british telecoms being transferred to india. also the highly skilled IT professionals from good ole blighty could now be suitably employed by the bovril barons to automate their manufacturing processes and develop a web presence! imagine the billions that would not be flowing in to ole blight as a result!

i hope you realize how racist and bigorted you sound when you lament over the misfortunes of diverse "white" governments and white peoples in different parts of the globe such as the uk, austarlia and the usa rather than commending the fact that citizens of lesser developed countries (obviously with a few more pigment cells under their skins than what is to your liking) have risen to the challenge and are successfully competing in the most highly demanding and technically skilled jobs all over the globe.

yours sincerely

ronan, surrey
Email address supplied