Outsourcing anecdotes. The pro-outsourcing arguments advanced by economist Daniel Drezner, writing in Foreign Affairs, break no new ground. I was struck, though, by this comment about anecdotal evidence:
When forced to choose between statistical evidence showing that trade is good for the economy and anecdotal evidence of job losses due to import competition, Americans go with the anecdotes. [ForeignAffairs.org, via Dan Gillmor]
I just want to point out that anecdotes come in all flavors. Here's one that you probably haven't heard. Last week, an Indian who runs an outsourcing business in Texas wrote to tell me that somebody threw stones through his office window. …
I keep coming back to the exchange between Daniel Pink and Shirley Turner. “We've done it before,” says Pink, “going from farm to factory, from factory to knowledge work, and from knowledge work to whatever's next.” To which Turner responds: “I'd like to know where you go from knowledge.”
Not, let's hope, to rock-throwing. [Jon's Radio]