Quote Originally Posted by Thepossumdance
we are as you said very near full employment, but I would like to point out that this leftover unemployment is not from those unwilling to work.

This issue is less about the availability of jobs and more about salary. As we outsource specific tech jobs to other countries our nation experiences more "structural unemployment" These workers then must find less skill specific lower paying jobs. It is obvious that as jobs move overseas where companies can pay significantly lower wages, it puts great strain on the American worker's bargaining power when it comes to attempting to gain needed wage increases to keep the same standard of living he or she is accustomed to.
An intelligent response, yet still with a micro/short term view. I agree with your statement that outsourcing "puts great strain on the American worker's bargaining power when it comes to attempting to gain needed wage increases to keep the same standard of living he or she is accustomed to". At least for the short term. But not to outsource would do the same thing. If these jobs were all to come back to the U.S., either the workers salaries would fall, or prices for the goods they produce would skyrocket. Thus they'd be back at the bargaining table trying to get another raise to keep their standard of living consistant.

In the short term it really is a "damned if you do/damned if you don't " situation. But you have to look at it long term and as a constantly evolving situation. Any given job is just a resource, and as one resource leaves another comes in. People look at it like a car with no way to add new gas. They don't want to drive, because once the gas is gone the car is useless. But it's not like that. When you use the gas you put more in. When one class of jobs is gone, another will arise, and this will be one that we are more competitive at.