Sarah just got her work permit to work in England approved. And with any permit, it comes expiration date.

And this is what sets nomads apart the rest of everybody. We can't take the place that we currently live in for granted. Our current adopted home has expiration date so might as well enjoy every waking moment we do have right now. In one definate day in the future, all of this comfort will go and we'll start again in someplace new or long forgotten.

Live like you are being deported :)

“Smokers and restaurant owners in Italy were fuming in a rather different way on Monday after a tough new law that bans smoking in public places - one of the strictest in Europe - went into effect.” (IHT)

non-fumare in tutto posto pubblico? incredibile. questo e la evento miracoloso.

 
Here's a map of the newest global trading bloc.  With Japan and India, the bloc would encompass ~ half of humanity (3 billion people).  Imagine.  No tariffs, one passport, one currency, etc.  Wow.  China is quickly locking up long term access to the raw materials to power its economic expansion (particularly in conjunction with their recent deals with Iran and Russia).  In contrast, the US appears stalled on NAFTA integration (we are actually going backwards on this) and we are nearly at blows with our raw material partners (Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, etc.).  (from John Robb)

”This brings us to this week's vote in the Israeli Parliament about whether to proceed with Mr. Sharon's plan for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Mr. Sharon, a man of the right, has finally realized the demographic threat posed by Gaza to Israel and wants to get out. He is being opposed by the Israeli far right - the Jewish Hezbollah. This includes settler rabbis who have urged soldiers to disobey orders and, with winks and nods, have let it be known that if someone were to eliminate Ariel Sharon he would be acting out God's will. In this struggle between Jewish fanatics and Ariel Sharon, we must stand with Mr. Sharon. These settler rabbis are a blot on the Jewish people.”

(Friedman)

”China's rise is no longer a matter of the future. It is already the fourth largest economy in the world, and it is growing at three to four times the rate of the first three. It is now the world's largest importer and exporter of many commodities, manufactured products and agricultural goods. It will soon be one of the largest exporters of capital, buying companies across the globe.

India is growing with impressive resilience and determination. And because of its size, it adds another huge weight to the Asian balance. East Asia has now been in a long boom for over 30 years. Asians are also the world's biggest savers, and their savings have financed the deficit spending of the United States. While there may be temporary reversals for a year or two, the long-term trend is clear.” ( Fareed Zakaria )

”Finland is the world's most competitive economy, followed by the United States, Sweden, Taiwan, Denmark and Norway, according to a Global Competitiveness Report released Wednesday.” (cnn.com)

These rankings come from World Economic Forum, based in Geneva (I jumped into Lake Geneva fully clothed three years ago;).

You can find the full rankings here (104 countries).

”Looks like any post about anything happening in India seems to attract all the trolls like moths to a burning candle. The problem is not India - they are doing what needs to improve their lives; even if that means taking jobs for cheap from Americans. Capitalism and global economny are American ideas - we cannot ignore them because they are starting to hurt us now.
Instead of sitting on our fat behinds (yes, 60% of our country is overweight - that is a whole different problem), it's about time we figure out how to get the house in order before blaming others. Schools suck, college costs have sky-rocketed - have the stupid politicians fix this first.
All the jobs that were outsourced are history - manufacturing jobs in the last two decades to China, and now some of the tech jobs to India and elsewhere. And any amount of crying aren't going to get those back. Figure out what is relevant in today's economy and work towards using that to your advantage. “ ( a slashdot post )

” Harry Shum's office may be one of the best places to witness the next stage of China's rise as an economic powerhouse.

Set in the heart of the Haidian District in Beijing, with its canyons of universities, labs and high-tech ventures, his office occupies a corner of Microsoft Research Asia, the software giant's ambitious effort to tap scientific brainpower in China.

Dr. Shum oversees 170 scientists who huddle around computers in gray cubicles to brainstorm and tinker with ideas that may one day drive Microsoft's technological empire to even greater heights.

"Microsoft began to realize we can't find all the talented people in the U.S.," he said. Pointing outside, he added: "Nowhere in this universe has a higher concentration of I.Q. power."” (NYTimes)

I don't necessarily agree with the statement that I mark in bold. But here's the difference, the trend in China and other emerging nations is that they eagerly embrace globalization. They learn the rules and  play it aggressively. Now the US has it backward, with a worrying trend to isolate and the short term goal of “creating jobs” and “job security“. They are comforting goals, but it is out of touch from reality.

You have to compete. You have much of the advantage over a lot of countries. Take and run with it. Do not be a chickenshit. It's a hard game to play, but play you must otherwise the rest of the world will catch up with you and left you in the dust.

Slashdot discussions

“There are many areas in which African countries, eager to move into this space, can carve out a niche for themselves. The lucrative call center sector is one such area. Creating an environment that makes offshore outsourcing in Africa attractive can have many positive spin-offs for the continent as a whole, not just in terms of increased employment, additional revenue and new skills, but also in terms of changing the perception the developed world has about Africa.” (CRM Buyer)

The only perception the internet has about Africa in terms of IT is the Nigerian scam. The potential for Africa lies in the North (French/Arabic Speaking), West and South with nothing in the Middle or East (maybe Kenya, but that's doubtful)

Oh yeah, silverkey will have a presence in the continent of Africa. Hint: Do you speak French?

Let me introduce you to stupid :

From New York Times:

”Now, though, producers here are facing a serious new challenge in their biggest market. On Dec. 31, the Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a dumping complaint against Brazil and five other countries, seeking to impose tariffs of up to 300 percent, and last month the Commerce Department ruled that there were grounds to proceed because there were indications of a "danger of injury" to American producers.”

“Shrimp producers here argue that there is simply no way for American shrimpers operating from trawlers to compete against more efficient farms. Production in the United States has stalled over the last decade, they maintain, because of the vagaries of weather, overfishing, high costs and a reluctance to embrace aquaculture.

"We saw the writing on the wall," said Mark Kleinberg, an American who formerly had a shrimp fleet in Brownsville, Tex., and has shifted operations to northeast Brazil. "Shrimp boats cannot compete because insurance premiums and the cost of diesel fuel, repairs and maintenance are so high, and if you try to keep that around, you're just dragging out the misery."

But American shrimpers dispute that claim. "All we are doing is harvesting, which is cheaper than trying to raise shrimp yourself," Mr. Gordon said. "It's much harder and requires a lot more effort and cost to raise shrimp larvae and build a pond for them than to just go out to harvest them at sea."”

I was on a phone with a high school friend I haven't talked to for about nine years. She is currently in Western Australia and will be completing a PhD in June. From her, I learn that another friend is currently living in Paris (another PhD) and yet another PhD candidate in Munich, Germany.

I know of another friend currently pursuing her third degree in the US. One friend is currently residing in Sydney, pursuing her CPA certification after completing her 2nd degree. Vancouver also hosts another still in study friend.

These are all friends back from my Catholic high school in Surabaya, Indonesia back 9 years ago. My class (class of '95) probably represents the highest percentage of graduates that go, study and live overseas (close to 50%).

That is something.

Will the next generation of leaders in Indonesia come from that line of gungho internationalists? Only time will tell.

Now you know why the rush to outsourcing. Outsourcing is the new DotCom boom. Not entirely rational, but it produces some good stuff along the way.

”

From SFChronicle     OFFSHORING: BY THE NUMBERS Definitive data on jobs shipped overseas is a hard thing to find. But there is no shortage of collateral figures on the phenomenon. The sheer volume of studies on this topic tells us that people are trying hard to quantify the trend. Here's a look at some of the numbers behind this national issue (and their source): HOW MANY JOBS COULD WE LOSE? 3.3 million The number of U.S. jobs expected to be outsourced by 2015 (Forrester) 14 million The number of U.S. jobs vulnerable to outsourcing (UC Berkeley) 11 percent The percentage of U.S. jobs vulnerable to offshoring (UC Berkeley) 17 percent The percentage of Silicon Valley jobs vulnerable to offshoring (UCBerkeley) WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? $70,000 What the average American computer programmer is paid (UC Berkeley) $8,250 What the average computer programmer in India makes (CIO Magazine) $9,000 What the average computer programmer in China makes (CIO Magazine) $300 Approximate monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Shenzhen (Chronicle research) $200 Approximate monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Bangalore, India (www.Indiaproperties.com) $1,250 Approximate monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County (RealFacts)

“

From Joel on Software: ”We will not be "offshoring" our software development because you don't outsource your core competency. I'm not a software broker, I'm a software developer.
”

Friedman on outsourcing:

“Taking all this in, two things strike me about this outsourcing issue: One, economists are surely right: the biggest factor eliminating old jobs and churning new ones is technological change — the phone mail system that eliminated your secretary. As for the zippies who soak up certain U.S. or European jobs, they will become consumers, the global pie will grow, and ultimately we will all be better off. As long as America maintains its ability to do cutting-edge innovation, the long run should be fine. Saving money by outsourcing basic jobs to zippies, so we can invest in more high-end innovation, makes sense.

But here's what I also feel: this particular short run could be a real bear — and politically explosive. The potential speed and scale of this outsourcing phenomenon make its potential impact enormous and unpredictable. As we enter a world where the price of digitizing information — converting it into little packets of ones and zeros and then transmitting it over high-speed data networks — falls to near zero, it means the vaunted "death of distance" is really here. And that means that many jobs you can now do from your house — whether data processing, reading an X-ray, or basic accounting or lawyering — can now also be done from a zippie's house in India or China.”

Western Europe will soon hit by this phenomena. No doubt. In the future, you'll survive on the creations of new ideas and capital. That's it. The cost of production is so low overseas that it affords almost anybody a production capability that they will not have here in the US.

If you are in the rat race in the corporation, be very good at it or skip the game and start your own company. I predict of rapid growth in the one-two micro size business in this coming decades.

As a global trend, we will see more and more water flow effect downstream based on cost and quality. All commodities will be done at the cheapest price (the Wal Mart effect),  which is a moving target as the reality of cost shifted from one high demand place to another.

India will get more expensive as the economy improves and other smart countries will style itself just like India and take the price/brain that India has over US.

One thing is, never bet against the US. As long as the United States keeps its border open, it will still become the place of destination for the smartest and hardest working people on earth.

From John Robb

”This is particularly true in export-oriented start-ups aiming at niche global markets (this is the growth area I am most excited about).  It's possible, using outsourcing and offshoring to build a large virtual company for pennies on the dollar.  However, the founding entrepreneur still needs a core team to help him/her get the start-up off the ground.  Retaining the talent necessay to do this (this isn't burger flipping), is almost impossible.  You can't do it by taking a second mortgage out on your house, you need to go to VCs (which are, as we all know, almost impossible to deal with unless there is a financial bubble in play). “

Another side effect on this early trend would be the demise of office rental business. All you need now is to be located in a city where third spaces are vibrant.

From Wired:

”Aparna Jairam isn't trying to steal your job. That's what she tells me, and I believe her. But if Jairam does end up taking it - and, let's face facts, she could do your $70,000-a-year job for the wages of a Taco Bell counter jockey - she won't lose any sleep over your plight. When I ask what her advice is for a beleaguered American programmer afraid of being pulled under by the global tide that she represents, Jairam takes the high road, neither dismissing the concern nor offering soothing happy talk. Instead, she recites a portion of the 2,000-year-old epic poem and Hindu holy book the Bhagavad Gita: "Do what you're supposed to do. And don't worry about the fruits. They'll come on their own." “

From Martin Fowler:

“The experiences I'm writing about here are based on work done over the last couple of years by ThoughtWorks. We opened an office in Bangalore India in 2001 and have done several projects which have used a Bangalore based team. We've also done some offshore development with our Melbourne office. In these projects we've committed to using as much of an agile approach as possible, since we believe that agility is an approach that's in the best interests of our customers. In this essay I'll describe some of the lessons we've learned so far.”

It's here. Be prepared. Go abroad. Deal with it.

From Wired

“Nearly 100,000 people from around the world have descended on Ghatkopar, one of Mumbai's suburbs, for the World Social Forum, one of the largest gatherings of social activists and nongovernmental organizations.”

From International Herald Tribune

”The World Trade Organization's top court ruled on Monday that Canadian provinces subsidize their timber industry, delivering a setback to Ottawa in a 22-year-old dispute involving $5.5 billion in import duties.”

From New York Times

“With its rising budget deficit and ballooning trade imbalance, the United States is running up a foreign debt of such record-breaking proportions that it threatens the financial stability of the global economy, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund. “

IMF has usually been scolding plenty of emerging and developing economies around the world about their fiscal prudence and soundness of their countries. It's a bit unnerving to see them come down on the US hard.

From the Economist

”

Nine years ago, members of the World Trade Organisation agreed not to take each other to court over farm subsidies. But the “peace clause”, as this agreement is known, expired on December 31st. Will its end mean the beginning of a trade war?

”

I will track this farm issue over the course of the year. My firm is going international this year hence putting me back into the albeit still small part in the globalization system.