Alan Blinder is worried about offshoring. It is likely to hurt U.S. companies and workers, and “may be the biggest political issue in economics for a generation.” His op-ed in the Washington Post about his worries is stirring up controversy. Today’s punditbuzz is dedicated to Blinder and his detractors.

Greg Mankiw thinks Blinder’s criticisms are overblown. Offshoring has many benefits and is unlikely to unsettle the U.S. job market as much as Blinder claims and "the very length of the transition will make it less painful."

Blinder recently debated the issue of offshoring with Bhagwati at Harvard. Dani Rodrik provides a summary.

Dani Rodrik says that, “Historians teach us that globalisation rests on delicate social and political pillars. The first order of business today is to strengthen these pillars, rather than to push market opening further.”

Dean Baker is at a loss to why Blinder is worried only about the threat to highly educated workers.