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So, you live in the developed world, and you think of offshoring as something that’s just for big companies, right?

Wrong, offshoring has grown dramatically on the consumer front as well, and an article in yesterday’s newspaper really drove that home. For $99 a month, school and university students can access tutors in India. That’s about a quarter of the cost of hiring a tutor in the same area code.

For those of us involved in Internet marketing, offshoring is no secret; it’s been around for several years. For example, I paid a service in India to do some keyword searches for me. That produced good work at a fraction of the price of what a North American or European service would need to charge.

In yesterday’s newspaper article, several conventional tutors downplayed the significance of offshore tutors. They say they haven’t seen any decrease in business.

But, that’s really takes us to the point of offshoring, and even outsourcing. When prices can be pulled down, a whole new market emerges. Remember when airlines first began offering low, low discount fares? They created a new breed of airline passenger: People who otherwise would have driven their cars long distances.

Offshoring and outsourcing give consumers more choices, and more choices often create new markets. That makes this form of globalization a win-win for everyone.

You’re reading the commentary section of People, Profits, & Pensions. There’s also a book section, where you can read excerpts from my forthcoming book by the same name, visit http://www.people-profits-pensions.com . In addition to reading, you can also be a book critic and give me your thoughts on what you’ve read.

We in the developed world would like to think we’ve grown up, and no longer act tribally. In fact, we sometimes point to benighted nations in the developing world, and bemoan the tribal rivalries that lead to wars, famines, and other forms of human suffering.

Yet, I have to ask if we really have left tribalism behind.

A case in point. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has just given a major pension fund conditional permission to buy Canada’s biggest phone company, Bell Canada (formally known now as BCE).

The conditions would ‘Canadianize’ the bid. You see, the pension fund may partner with several US private equity firms to make the acquisition, and that set off a furor when the deal was first proposed.

The idea that one or more American companies might be significant investors fanned the flames of tribalism among some Canadians. Unfortunately, there are quite a few Canadians who are tribal at heart, and so we go through foolish exercises like these all too often.

Free trade and globalization have made us somewhat more sophisticated, but like citizens of almost every country, we have some distance to go before we can claim to be above tribalism ourselves.

You’re reading the commentary section of People, Profits, & Pensions. There’s also a book section, where you can read excerpts from my forthcoming book by the same name, visit http://www.people-profits-pensions.com . In addition to reading, you can also be a book critic and give me your thoughts on what you’ve read.