MediaHerd congratulates the New York Times on publishing a bitterly ironic article about the current American economy.

In “Debt Collection Done From India Appeals to U.S. Agencies,” Heather Timmons reports from Gurgaon, India that American debt collection agencies are expanding operations in India thanks in large part to the crumbling American economy and the low cost of Indian debt collectors. 

How ironic is that!  Americans lose their jobs and the middle-class economy flatlines due in part to outsourcing jobs to India; Americans go into debt and fall behind on their payments, fueling additional job outsourcing to India.

MediaHerd bets that our elected leaders didn’t think the economic stimulus package would help to “increase [the] wallet share” of Indian debt collectors:

Like many sales teams, Encore’s collectors in India gather for a daily pep talk before their shift. In one recent session, they were schooled on the intricacies of American tax policy.

“One hundred thirty million U.S. families will get a tax rebate this season” as part of the new economic stimulus package, Manu Sharma, the team leader, explained to a roomful of top-earning collection agents, most in their 20s. Those who qualify for the rebates will get as much $600 a person or $1,200 a household, he said, and “the I.R.S. is going to start paying this money in May.”

Start bringing up the rebate during calls, he told them. “This gives you an advantage so you can increase your wallet share,” he went on. “Get them set up on minimum balance arrangements” based around their tax rebates.

Bottom Line: The media herd loves reporting on the “outsourcing to India” storyline and never before has it been reported so ironically.