- Considering what the average budget for 95% of the people in the US is today, it is hard to compete with even an $8.50 an hour salary to one in a country that pays their workers $10 for a full day, or use child or slave labor.. Given a choice of buying in America, or buying cheap, most people will opt to get as much from their limited dollars available.
- Not everyone can buy on line and afford the shipping cost or use the gas to shop at a distance from home. Many people cannot pay the shipping and handling fees as well as having to pay state taxes for many products which might seem inexpensive at first glance.
- Only those around large cities have the number of choices in buying that one might wish. There are many rural areas where choices and stores are far more limited.
- Some believe that they must seek foreign made to get a good price and have given up shopping for American made goods. Many still aren't aware that even if a company has a foreign name, it might still be made in America as some autos are
- If we went to a single-payer health insurance through the government, businesses would be freer to pay worker's salaries.
- Regulations and OSHA don't exist as much in many countries from which we buy products
These were some quick thoughts after seeing the show. Hopefully my readers will make many more comments....please?
1 comment:
There are a lot of misconceptions about this issue. First of all, those "Made in ..." labels are highly misleading. They always identify only one country of origin, bu virtually every product made in recent years are made from components manufactured from many different countries. A closer look at who makes the components shows that American manufacturing is far healthier than most people realize. In your typical cell phone, the chips and operating system are made in America; the casing is made in China.
Why are so many products made from parts from dozens of countries? Google the economic term "comparative advantage" to learn how, by specializing in what each country does best, all trade partners can benefit from this approach to manufacturing.
The number of manufacturing jobs in the United States have dropped, but this is a worldwide phenomena. For all the fuss about "shipping jobs to China", even China has shed manufacturing jobs. The reason is that the factory drudge work is steadily being replaced by automation.
As you noted in this post, even foreign companies will manufacture in the United States, in spite of the higher wages. Wages are not the only factor for determining where to make a product; productivity is another very important factor.
The U.S. labor unions suffer from being tied to a model that worked well for large factories run by oligopolies. The model does not work well for our current economy. A better model would be something like a guild model: the union improves the quality of its members through apprenticeships and training, then makes the case to employers that their members are worth better wages, benefits and work conditions because of their added productivity. This model could be an effective way to unionize professions such as engineering, and it would not hinder competitiveness.
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