OUTSOURCING ROUNDUP. Some of Illini or Huskie's former co-workers have been outsourced without much warning, and they are bearing substantial adjustment costs.

Well, nobody is going to undertake a human capital investment if they can't recoup the costs. So how now brown cow? What does a 45-50 year old transcriptionist do?

I guess they move to India.

Tough ethics problem. Does "society" (usually meaning some taxpayers) owe these people restitution, because they made career choices based on the price information available 20-30 years ago and the objective circumstances have changed. Or, does "society" have a right to request further restitution from the outsourced workers, who have lived well at the expense of others for the past 5-10 years, which is when technical changes began to make Indian call centers a meaningful substitute?

Dan Drezner reports that the migration of call center workers from currently developed countries to India has already begun. Factor price equalization is interesting, but it need not imply a race to the bottom. Photon Courier notes, however, that it is not for low-skill workers only.