Uncommon cultures separated by language
Reuters, the company started by a German in London that now exported its jobs to India, is reporting that the increasing spread of the English language around the world threatens American and British jobs.
It also neglects the idea that many people have massive problems understanding some accents when they call for Dell tech support. Don't neglect the idea, though, that foreigners often write better English.
Economists will tell you that increasing the ability of capital to seek labor regardless of borders will only increase economic efficiencies. They have a harder time explaining just in which areas America will compete.
Rest assured, though, our competitors are getting competitors, as with growing interest in outsourcing to the southern coast of the Persian Gulf because it will lower costs more than India. (Some good background is found in Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat." It's a good read.)
And maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I suspect offshoring will not remain to the east. There will always be certain advantages to working in the same time zone, and one nation pops into my mind. Surrounded by nations of Spanish speakers, many Brazilians elect to learn English instead. And not all Brazilians are like the ones who invented a new Dunkin' Donuts flavor.
This, obviously, is not good for our long-term economic future. Yet it seems to gloss over several important facts. Most importantly, it neglects the idea that English is English. Even America and England are two common cultures separated by language. Saying, "I'm going to go light a fag" here gets you charged with a hate crime, while an American casually saying, "there's a bee in your bonnet" sends a Brit charging to his favorite mechanic.A massive increase in the number of people learning English is under way and likely to peak at around 2 billion in the next decade, according to the report entitled "English Next".
More than half of all primary school children in China now learn English and the number of English speakers in India and China -- 500 million -- now exceeds the total number of mother-tongue English speakers elsewhere in the world.
These new polyglots, and the companies that employ them, have significant competitive advantages over their monoglot rivals, including a vital understanding of different cultures, in a world faced with rapid globalisation.
It also neglects the idea that many people have massive problems understanding some accents when they call for Dell tech support. Don't neglect the idea, though, that foreigners often write better English.
Economists will tell you that increasing the ability of capital to seek labor regardless of borders will only increase economic efficiencies. They have a harder time explaining just in which areas America will compete.
Rest assured, though, our competitors are getting competitors, as with growing interest in outsourcing to the southern coast of the Persian Gulf because it will lower costs more than India. (Some good background is found in Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat." It's a good read.)
And maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I suspect offshoring will not remain to the east. There will always be certain advantages to working in the same time zone, and one nation pops into my mind. Surrounded by nations of Spanish speakers, many Brazilians elect to learn English instead. And not all Brazilians are like the ones who invented a new Dunkin' Donuts flavor.
posted by MeTheSheeple at 7:22 AM
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