This “geography is destiny” theory which ruled for much of our recorded history is now seriously challenged by the latest sweep of IT-enabled globalization. Received wisdom today is that geography is irrelevant. No longer is a country’s destiny tied down to its geographical location or its physical resources.
In the era of knowledge-propelled globalization, it is possible for countries to overcome handicaps of geography by exploiting their comparative advantage in human resources. That blue-collar jobs shift across geographic boundaries in pursuit of cheap hands has long been part of conventional wisdom. But what is new is that increasingly white-collar jobs, once considered safe from foreign competition, are now being offshored.