By uttering such nonsense, ESC members show they must have no clue about the social process. De-localization is just an aspect of the wonderful advancement of the divison of labor and knowledge at an international scale. In essence, it is the process we observe when a dentist decides to hire an assistant to clean his medical instruments despite knowing he is better at performing both the medical and the maintenance jobs. The dentist de-localizes or “de-personalizes” the cleaning task because, despite doing it better, he will create more wealth if he specializes in the task he is relatively better at and leaves another person do the one that can be performed with less productive advantage. They both benefit from this process.

 

In fact, everyone cooperating in a society gains through this process which guides specialization and the division of labor. It is important to understand the fact that a person (or a country) is able to do something better than another person (or country) is no obstacle to getting that person (or country) to give up certain tasks and exchange the fruits of his or her labor in a specialized field with other people (or countries).

 

If the process of international division of labor resulting in new localizations for certain phases of production happens in a natural way, that is, without political impositions, it greatly benefits everyone. Despite an activity no longer taking place in our country, as in the case of the dentist and his assistant, we will all benefit from increasing specialization. We will be able to buy de-localized products at a better price and we will sell the products that bring bigger gains. Some jobs will disappear but many more will be created.

 

The problem is that most de-localization is caused by politicians or by labor unions or company owners who enjoy privileges. In those cases many companies close down because regulations make an artificial move elsewhere profitable, creating a loss in productivity, employment and quality of life.

 

That is why the Council’s advice is a big mistake. Those who own each activity are the ones that should value whether it is still beneficial for them to keep the activity in a certain place or to de-localize it. The joint management and intensification of government power they suggest will only decrease productivity, jobs and well-being. And I don’t think that is what the Council wants for Spain.