US politicians are trying to save their jobs

New York’s Democrat senator Charles Schumer calls Infosys a ‘chop shop’. The US government hikes visa fees for Indian companies which employ more than 50% of H1B and L1 visa holders. President Barack Obama asserts that his policies will ensure American jobs do not any more go to China, India or Germany. Do these smoke signals add up to a serious crisis point for Indo-US relations?

Probably not. These straws should be seen as nothing more than a political game which has marginal economic significance for the two countries. Indo-US business relations are nowhere near the brink, and they do not spell doom for either side immediately or in the future.

It has been customary in India to read a little too much into every American posture in the business arena, but the time has come to treat American politicians in the same way that we do our ours — with amusement, if not disdain. It is not surprising that American politicians make the usual loud and ineffective noises about saving American jobs. They are actually trying to save their own jobs.

Schumer should have realised that chop shops do not hurt big economies like that of the US and the trouble lies elsewhere. He need not have looked beyond Detroit and the auto majors to understand the real problems of lagging American competitiveness.

Similarly, the rise is visa fees is more in the nature of a punitive measure because it will not help in creating the skilled workforce that America needs. If anything, it will only accelerate outsourcing instead of keeping those jobs in America. President Obama was indeed careful to emphasise that his policies were directed towards education and innovation which will strengthen the American economy instead of imposing direct protectionist measures.

Whatever the rhetoric of globalisation, countries are playing the old game of everyone for himself. This is not likely to change. All that we can demand is that the game is played according to the rules, and losers should not cry foul every time things are not going their way.