Business outsourcing isn't a new phenomenon; it goes far back in time. Contrary to the narrowed understanding, popularized in the CNN special night editions, it affects not only the United States. Being a country that was created and economically developed throughout the centuries by outsourcing human and other capital from less business-prone societies, the American continent and not only its main business center can only be happy that the other societies allowed such outsourcing to happen. These donor societies, especially in Europe, even today continue to export industries and jobs. Given the constant need of technological innovations in Europe and the threatening effects that such process causes on the lower social layers, we can predict with sufficient certainty interesting economic and real estate trends on the Old Continent.

Usually the modern societies are represented in a shape of pyramids, where the tops are the haves and at the bottoms are the have-nots. For the sake of the truth we should add that such shapes apply to the traditional agrarian societies too. The only difference between them and us is in the social mobility, the possibility in the modern world for anyone to go up or down, or even to go higher than the highest existing layer, this bringing up the whole pyramid. If we imagine the modern mobile societies as separated business units from one another, the only problem from these constant ups and downs would be the social polarization and possible tensions between the individuals. The fact is that the societies aren't economically separated from each other. So the vertical take-off of one national economic pyramid affects also the other national pyramids and vice versa.

1990's, especially its second half were years of unprecedented technological advances in the most developed societies. The United States took substantial lead over their main competitors, but Europe also began transforming itself into computerized and microbiologic societies. It became possible to move the whole social pyramids up. The tops went up in terms of incomes and life style, but the bottoms remained almost unchanged in terms of occupation. These additional resources, accumulated through the new technological boom, went down the pyramid. Especially in the European countries, where the social system is paramount, this general increase allowed the states to increase the minimal wages. People in the lower layers began getting more for the same work only because the society as a whole has become richer, not because they have produced more.

That ultimately led to making many industries in the developed world less competitive and more prone to be outsourced. The paradox is that this economic necessity was produced not by an economic crisis, but by an economic boom, not by unlimited application of the market principles, but by applying social correctors to these principles. That's why in relative terms Europe is hurt more by the business outsourcing than America although Europe gained less than America in terms of recent technological breakthroughs.

The only real way to keep low the social price of outsourcing wouldn't be to try to keep as many as possible low-paid jobs inside the national market. These low-paid jobs are doomed because of the very logic of the technological revolution coupled with the international liberal economic order. Now we lament the disappearing garment jobs, tomorrow we'll lament disappearing steel factories, perhaps 50 years from now we'll mourn the microelectronics, and 100 years from now the current top high-tech, microbiology and new medicines. As the world happens to be, at least in the next 100 years I don't see any chance to close the gap between the developed and developing world. I don't want to say that the present-day developed countries will remain so in 100 years or that all developing nations will remain underdeveloped. But there will be substantial gap making impossible to keep intact the jobs from the bottom layers of the most developed nations without erecting unbreakable walls between the national economies, which seems very unlikely.

The effects on the real estate market in the developed countries will be direct, although not in the same direction as predicted by the pessimists. The market of offices or industrial parks won't crash just because many companies will prefer to take away their business. This process may happen but if properly managed, its negative effects will be minimal. The real change will come when the lower social layers, victims of outsourcing, move upward through continuous education and fill the positions left by those who have taken the whole pyramid higher. Instead of outsourced low-tech industries the society will gain higher-tech businesses, industries able to generate higher profits, and thus able to pay higher rents, to pay more for buildings and to pay higher salaries to allow their staff to get more expensive residences. At the end the society will become richer and as the need of technological breakthroughs remain constant, more and more low-paid jobs will flee and higher and higher the economic pyramid will rise.

That of course is an ideal type and I doubt that all now existing developed societies will be able to keep going indefinitely without falling behind because of developmental fatigue. Some post-communist countries decided to give up the fight and are looking for traditional businesses like agriculture and tourism to feed their population. The same can happen to other countries that now seem at the top. It suffices to decide to keep at any cost the jobs for those who are at the bottom and the social and technological progress will stop, unable to overcome the growing social tensions.