Globalization Is Not Labor/Wage Arbitrage!

(Via NYTimes) Globalization is often viewed as a rootless process of constantly moving jobs to low-wage countries. But the issue is more complex, there is a relatively new form of globalization that emphasizes first-rate centers of production and design in various countries - including the United States.Whirpool is the biggest exporter of German-made washing machines to the United States? Never mind the higher labor cost - $32 an hour, including benefits, versus $23 in the United States. The necessary technology existed in Germany when Whirlpool decided to sell front-loading washers to Americans.
Whirlpool's global network, a work in progress, includes microwave ovens engineered in Sweden and made in China for American consumers; stoves designed in America and made in Tulsa, Okla., for American consumers; refrigerators assembled in Brazil and exported to Europe; and top-loading washers made at a sprawling factory in Clyde, Ohio, for American consumers, although some are sold in Mexico.The advantage of Whirlpool's approach to globalization is that it allows the company to put the earnings of overseas affiliates to their best use anywhere in the world, Parent companies "invest in new technologies and business opportunities that will eventually create new jobs at home and abroad." More than 40 percent of the US imports are from the overseas subsidiaries of American companies, contributing to the lopsided trade deficit, but also making companies more competitive. Whirlpool is a typical example: its employment in the United States has not risen in years while it has tripled abroad.