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International trade has been around for thousands of years. That means that the concept of outsourcing is certainly not new, even though the term seems to be. After all, the exchange of services between countries is a part of international trade. In any event, if we decide to restrict this type of international trade in [...]

The concept of outsourcing is simple: Instead of hiring American workers at home, American corporations hire foreign workers to do the same jobs. For example, some of these foreign workers are in India and do call center work, answering technical questions for computer purchasers.

The conclusion we draw from this tale of two cities is not that the people who lost jobs in Buffalo should have become self-employed street vendors. Instead, we infer that, particularly in developing countries, a thriving underground economy can help generate wealth that would not exist without it.

On a worldwide basis, about one-third of annual world income goes unreported. As noted earlier, estimates for the United States center on about 10 percent, while it is believed that around 20 percent of income in Europe is underground and thus goes unreported.

Congress increased the length of eligibility for unemployment benefits to almost two years. In response, some of the people receiving those extended benefits began to seriously seek “offthe- books” jobs, just as their counterparts have long done in Europe. What is a way of life for the unemployed in France, Italy, and Spain has started [...]