They Outsourced What?

we can't have regulations, taxes, welfare, ss programs and expect to be able to compete with people who are slaves. make no mistake we NEED these jobs back. it can't be done without either lowering our regulations and benefit/tax programs or imposing huge tariffs and taxes on foreign countries.

services dont make for a strong economy, building stuff like bridges machines and computers are what make a strong economy.

 

Well I'm not in favor of making our workers salves by reducing benefits or safety regulations. And if we simply increase huge tariffs on imported products other countries will do the same to our exported products.

It's complicated and will take a balanced approach for a workable solution.

 

so your solution seems to be that we should allow them to continue the economic warfare against us. we have to impose tariffs if we want to save our economy. we cannot simply continue with this nonsense. china needs our money, they would be forced to either get with the 21st century and respect human rights and prevailing wages or get their garbage off the wal mart shelves.

we dont need to export a thing to china to survive, we can do just fine without them. china already ships over massive barges with hundreds of semi truck trailers full of goods which return empty.

 

Did you miss the part where I stated-

Also living in a port city on the Oregon coast for 20+ years I can tell you you're wrong about those ships returning to China empty.

I have to meet with an insurance agent right now or I'd go into this further.

 

I've been selling auto parts for... way too long! In the 1970's and 80's, we started seeing Canadian and Mexican products coming in at about 2/3 the cost of their name brand American counterparts. The initial response was 'Don't give me any of that cheap foreign shit," then shortly became "Can"t you get me something a little less expensive." Canadian made exhaust pipes, drums and rotors, and Mexican made lighting and electrical were coming in with increasing attention to quality, as Federal Mogul, Allied, Raybestos, Cooper and many other companies started moving manufacturing. "Made in Japan" was still distained, let alone "Made in China."

Through the 80's and 90's, Japan, India and Israel labels became more frequently seen on name brand items. The insistence on American made products was eroding. Cheaper and cheaper, with quality starting to become secondary, was becoming a growing trend. Some Chinese stuff was coming in, but was, in general, still inferior to name brand parts, where ever they were made.

Today, more than half of my 80,000+ SKUs are of Chinese manufacture, and a large chunk of the remainder are from other non-US sources. Price trumps quality in the customer's value judgement. Some Chinese products are still crap, but not all. Market pressures are driving a higher standard.

I grew up in a UAW household. I love to buy American when I can find and afford it. I don't like the prospect of the US becoming a country of burger flippers and store clerks (although, I suppose, I fit into that category). My band recorded a song, "That Ain't The Motor City." It's a plea of support for the American auto industry. "Hey, look here, Slim. Without a job you're not buying anything." But it's a lie. Most of your American labeled car was imported, and Toyota markets the vehicle with the highest US made content.

I have no answers. I don't trust economists or politicians to find a path for us. And, companies run by accountants answering to Wall Street won't lead us back, either. Time was, seems to me, that business men had vision beyond their bank accounts.

 

That makes you a romantic, grumpyolddude. Something out of nothing blinds people. If WE forget other's contributions because of lack of recognition of the value of our provisions, this boat is going to sink.

 

I was shocked a few years back when I had to replace a fuel pump on my F-150 (what a pain in the ass job, it needs to be inside the fuel tank? Why?) and the new pump had a label on it that said "made in Israel." If I remember so did the new fuel filter. I would have guessed just about any country other then Israel as an auto parts supplier.

I like that song.

Those days are gone. Everyone has joined the "never is enough club." Where the motto seems to be "I got mine jack, screw you."

 

If we could get a couple hundred thousand of your friends to buy it... that would be a great boost for an American made product!

 

You need to take a look at the number of contacts on my laptop.

 

that maybe true but the trade deficit with them is very high at about 4 to 1.

 

Ok, do you have a source for that number?

 

Way to taint what he said, samcol. The elegance of outsourcing is only obvious to those who profit off it. Some relief can be found in sharing the misery.

 

--- merged: Aug 13, 2011 at 3:49 PM ---

i don't understand what you're getting at?

 

Ok, interesting. The chart on their site shows the 2010 deficit at 273,063.2 million wonder why it's different? Either looks like your right, it's a pretty large difference.

 

yeah, thats why i dont see any solution beyond imposing heavy taxes on their imports. their human rights and environmental regulations don't seem like they are going to improve anytime soon which would cause the cost of their goods to go up closer to what they are here.

 

Purring soothes. Why this species doesn't do it more often confuses me, because:

Eye candy:
Wherever you go,
there it is.

The "outsourcing" we hear about only adds to the mythology we share.

 

"To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction." That's one of Newton's laws of motion but in an odd sense applies here as well. We can't simply resolve this issue by imposing heavy taxes on their imports. Occam's razor doesn't really work in this situation. Too many variables at this point. The economy's too global, our interests in some cases are too shared while in other cases stand too much in contrast. I do not see a simple solution to this complex problem.

 

The countries providing the cheapest labor markets, by and large, have the most lax worker safety and environmental impact regulations. For example: http://matadornetwork.com/change/10-environmental-atrocities-in-china-that-you-didnt-know-about/

World awareness is growing, and one would hope that corrective actions are on the horizon. The offshoot of this would be a rise in manufacturing costs and a lessening of competitive advantage.

I realize that there are many who feel that American manufacturing is over regulated, and there may be cases where the government has been over zealous. But I view a responsible concern for workplace and environmental safety is a function of an enlightened society.

 

The safety of the people doing the work is of minimal interest to those who profit off it. The corrective actions are not as reliable as the rotation of this planet. Regulations lend to the cost of production far less reliably than they steal from it, by saving lives that reproduce. We can hope that the hopes of our users don't contradict ours. Otherwise, we're royally fucked.

Personal pleasure should never equal pain for another. So often it does that it disrupts my hopes for our futures. In other words, maybe, we should all examine what we've earned.