Predictions For The Economy & Offshoring, Part II

In my last blog post, I wrote about how legislation may be the most likely thing to result in a short-term reduction of the unemployment rate in the USA. Today, I’ll talk about two things that are likely to be key elements of the long-term reduction in unemployment.

The first element of restoring previous employment levels is the government putting an end to the endless handouts. With the US government giving 99 weeks of unemployment compensation, it has sapped a lot of ambition from our country. I’ve heard too many people say things like “Why work when I can do nothing and get money for free?” Cutting off the lifeline may propel these individuals into action and give them the ambition to, if not get a job, start a business and return the entrepreneurial spirit back into our country. Our country is falling behind the growth rate of places like China due in part to this lack of ambition.

The second element of restoring previous employment levels is a reduction in the standard of living. Look around. Despite what is supposed to be the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, you’ll see people with iPhones, iPads, hundreds of channels with their cable television subscriptions, new cars, big houses, cell phone plans for very young children, and other things that they don’t consider luxuries but really are. I sometimes get shocked going to kids’ birthday parties and seeing a child receive dozens of $25 toys that everyone knows the child cannot possibly play with and will end up in the trash.

But I think we may be in our last days of this prosperity. We are a global economy. We have come to a point where we are competing with people in multiple countries around the world for scarce jobs. In order to have jobs, we are going to have to be cost-competitive. This means lower wages across the board. And when we work for amounts that have to match those of developing nations, our standard of living will end up matching theirs as well.

Or, perhaps a rapidly declining standard of living will be what it takes to motivate Americans to have the ambition to restore and protect prosperity before it's too late.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
Next Level Purchasing . com