(posted by David) Steve Lohr’s piece, Hello India? I Need Help With My Math, in the NY Times (sub rq’d) uncovers the evolution of outsourcing as consumer services (often considered non-exportable) such as tutoring, tax and legal services, and personal valets are now available at much lower costs than local providers.
From the article,
The second wave, according to some entrepreneurs, venture
capitalists and offshoring veterans, will be the globalization of
consumer services. People like Ms. Yamaki and Mr. Tham, they predict,
are the early customers in a market that will one day include millions
of households in the United States and other nations.
They
foresee an array of potential services beyond tutoring and personal
assistance like health and nutrition coaching, personal tax and legal
advice, help with hobbies and cooking, learning new languages and
skills and more. Such services, they say, will be offered for
affordable monthly fees or piecework rates.
