> In a non-protectionist world there would be free movement of labor and so there would be nothing stopping say a US or European developer moving overseas to follow the work if that it what they desired. Sadly this is not the case so off-shoring is equally as protectionist which is where a lot of the criticism comes from.
Would like to disagree. An American passport allows you to work from, pretty much most other OECD countries in the world. So, if Singapore has a better job market for techies than the US, nothing prevents one from relocating. But in my experience, American citizens are, on average, more reluctant to relocate even between US states, than immigrants. Indians or Chinese leave their families and relocate 10000 miles to live and work in the US. But most Americans I've met aren't as eager to relocate to say, Singapore (or even jump from one coast to the other or to the mid-west), even if prospects for jobs are better.
Last I checked non-Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents need an Employment Pass (EP) to work as a skilled worker in Singapore and such a pass must be applied for by the employer. So under that scenario you need a visa and sponsorship by an employer. There is a new system called PEP which does not require sponsorship by the employer, but has additional requirements in terms of base salary and restrictions on employment, but again it still counts as requiring a visa.
So having "just an American passport" does not allow you work in a country like Singapore without applying for a visa. While the Singapore system might be more flexible than other such as the US, it certainly is not "free movement of labor".
> Would like to disagree. An American passport allows you to work from, pretty much most other OECD countries in the world. So, if Singapore has a better job market for techies than the US, nothing prevents one from relocating.
Even if a US passport allowed you to work from "pretty much most other OECD countries" (which I'm pretty sure is itself false by any reasonable standard for "pretty much most"), Singapore is not a member state of the OECD.
Would like to disagree. An American passport allows you to work from, pretty much most other OECD countries in the world. So, if Singapore has a better job market for techies than the US, nothing prevents one from relocating. But in my experience, American citizens are, on average, more reluctant to relocate even between US states, than immigrants. Indians or Chinese leave their families and relocate 10000 miles to live and work in the US. But most Americans I've met aren't as eager to relocate to say, Singapore (or even jump from one coast to the other or to the mid-west), even if prospects for jobs are better.