Key Metrics and Supply Alert
Staff -- Purchasing, 3/4/2004 2:00:00 AM
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Expect to hear a lot more about the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to foreign shores in the 2004 presidential election. Democrats are going to use the specter of factory and white-collar service jobs moving to India, China and elsewhere to convince voters this autumn that President Bush deserves to be pink-slipped. The U.S. economy has lost around 3 million manufacturing jobs in the past 3 1/2 years, and economists say many of those may never come back. However, White House economic adviser Gregory Mankiw says, "outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade."
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Web conferencing isn't a huge market yet, at $400-$500 million annually. However, Praful Shah, director of strategic communications at market leader WebEx Communications, expects industry sales grow to "a couple of billion dollars in 3 to 4 years." He sees businesses expanding Web conferencing to cut costs and find alternative ways to get business done without sending staff halfway around the world.
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Samsung Electronics Co., the world's third-largest mobile handset maker, is aggressively pushing into the U.S. and European markets but has decided to keep its cellular telephone prices an average 50% higher than its key rivals. Why? Samsung will launch up to 12 new models in 2004, including at least three equipped with tiny digital cameras, says Samsung Asia's chief executive Kim Kwang Soo.
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Get smart on indirect buying at PURCHASING's new On-Demand MRO Symposium. A bevy of experts, including PURCHASING's MRO All-Stars, give practical tips on how to buy indirect supplies better. The four-session program (priced at $95) includes discussions on procurement cards and information technology procurement. Get details at www.purchasing.com
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Corporate earnings will be 11% higher this year than in 2003, forecasts the Value Line Investment Survey, and dividends will rise by 4%. Interest rates will be only slightly higher and inflation will "remain muted." Business investment and private sector construction spending are looking like they will be up on the order of 9% for 2004.
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The second generation of travel security is adding tension to international flying. The U.S. is fingerprinting and photographing visitors from many nations and detaining and deporting more folks with visa issues. So, get used to new, more invasive security precautions from other nations who are less than enthralled with American actions of late.
Steel import monitoring system extended
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