Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock
(MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6am.
While his coffeepot
(MADE IN CHINA )
was perking, he shaved with his
electric razor
(MADE IN HONG KONG ).
He put on a
dress shirt
(MADE IN SRI LANKA ),
designer jeans
(MADE IN SINGAPORE )
and
tennis shoes
(MADE IN KOREA )
After cooking his breakfast in his new
electric skillet
(MADE IN INDIA )
he sat down with his
calculator
(MADE IN MEXICO )
to see how much he could spend today. After setting his
watch
(MADE IN TAIWAN )
to the radio
(MADE IN INDIA )
he got in his car
(MADE IN GERMANY )
filled it with GAS
(from Saudi Arabia )
and continued his search
for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.
At the end
of yet another discouraging
and fruitless day
checking his
Computer
(Made In Malaysia ),
Joe decided to relax for a while.
He put on his sandals
(MADE IN BRAZIL )
poured himself a glass of
wine
(MADE IN FRANCE )
and turned on his
TV
(MADE IN INDONESIA ),
and then wondered
why he can't find
a good paying job
in AMERICA .
Something to think about
Moderator: Jason Susnjara
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Something to think about
Damon Nabors
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Re: Something to think about
This is interesting.
When i still lived in Europe i was allways buying Levi's pants made in USA. How come when i moved here i cannot find any of them made here? It's either Mexico or Turkey.
Nemanja
When i still lived in Europe i was allways buying Levi's pants made in USA. How come when i moved here i cannot find any of them made here? It's either Mexico or Turkey.
Nemanja
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Re: Something to think about
Good point and all too true but...I'll wager that Joe wouldn't be willing to pay the prices required (due to higher wages) for the same goods made in America. Just like the rest of us, Joe wants to pay the lowest possible price for everything he buys.
That is the catch-22. We want the higher wages that go along with American jobs but we don't want to pay the prices needed to support American businesses and manufacturing.
Me thinks the only solution is to rethink our philosophy about manufacturing jobs in the same way we did agricultural jobs in the 1950s. Prior to WWII we were primarily an agricultural nation with manufacturing thrown in for good measure. After WWII our focus changed more toward manufacturing (why let all those great factories built to support the war effort lie idle?) and our agricultural base began to deteriorate. Today small farms (operating as a business) have all but disappeared and we buy food from huge, multi-national corporations or import it.
About the only thing left of the agricultural age in America is summer vacation for schools.
Our economy now is manufacturing based with some service industry thrown in for good measure. The only problem is that we are now allowing the service industry slip from our grasp through outsourcing to other countries with, you guessed it, cheap labor.
I don't know just what the answer is but we, as a country, have to wake up and rethink just what it is that we do for a living before any potential for earning a living slips away from us. We have to come up with something that cannot be outsourced and right now it is looking pretty grim. About all that I can think of that cannot be outsourced is retail, education or medical. Retail or education sure won't provide the wages we are accustomed to.
What are some member's ideas on where we are headed (other than down the dumper) economy-wise? What will be the next economic boom for America that can't be outsourced?
That is the catch-22. We want the higher wages that go along with American jobs but we don't want to pay the prices needed to support American businesses and manufacturing.
Me thinks the only solution is to rethink our philosophy about manufacturing jobs in the same way we did agricultural jobs in the 1950s. Prior to WWII we were primarily an agricultural nation with manufacturing thrown in for good measure. After WWII our focus changed more toward manufacturing (why let all those great factories built to support the war effort lie idle?) and our agricultural base began to deteriorate. Today small farms (operating as a business) have all but disappeared and we buy food from huge, multi-national corporations or import it.
About the only thing left of the agricultural age in America is summer vacation for schools.
Our economy now is manufacturing based with some service industry thrown in for good measure. The only problem is that we are now allowing the service industry slip from our grasp through outsourcing to other countries with, you guessed it, cheap labor.
I don't know just what the answer is but we, as a country, have to wake up and rethink just what it is that we do for a living before any potential for earning a living slips away from us. We have to come up with something that cannot be outsourced and right now it is looking pretty grim. About all that I can think of that cannot be outsourced is retail, education or medical. Retail or education sure won't provide the wages we are accustomed to.
What are some member's ideas on where we are headed (other than down the dumper) economy-wise? What will be the next economic boom for America that can't be outsourced?
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Re: Something to think about
It can all be out sourced. That is the problem... There is no job that can not be outsourced. The only option I can see, realistically, is for a national backlash taking root. The people of the US, and other countries really, need to come back to their roots and remember what made our country great. Take some pride in it again. Same for all other lands. Once we have serious pride in our country again we will be more likely to buy goods made in it. Until then we don't stand a chance of being prosperous again, IMO
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Re: Something to think about
Not only do we outsource much of our production,we import alot of our labor.It's sad to see a line around the block at the unemployment office while migrant workers(many illegal)get work by just gathering on a corner.
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Re: Something to think about
Since nobody seems to have a solution, here is my theory on the cause, effect and potential recovery from a coming global economic crisis that dwarves the current situation. Feel free to use, modify, improve, comment on or shoot down my theory--I claim no copyright as this affects everyone.
My Chaos Theory as Applied to Global Economics
The Chaos Theory describes the behavior of dynamic systems that may exhibit actions that are highly sensitive to initial conditions (the butterfly effect). As a result of this sensitivity, which manifests itself as an exponential growth of changes in the initial conditions, the behavior of chaotic systems appears to be random. This happens even though these systems are deterministic, meaning that their future actions are fully defined by their initial conditions, with no random elements involved.
While the Chaos Theory is normally thought of having only mathematical application, it can also be applied to global economics. As the world economies have evolved they have become inextricably interdependent upon each other. A small, seemingly insignificant, change in one sector can have enormous effect on other economies.
The current global economic recession (some might say meltdown) occurred not because of large, overarching events; rather it was smaller, localized events that affected other systems thus causing actions that may have provided local benefit while causing widespread problems…chaos.
The problem is rooted in localized demand for economic growth. How is this achieved? Traditionally, economic growth has been created by exporting local goods or resources in market-driven economies—e.g. ancient spice traders. In recent decades, however, there has been a shift toward price-driven economies wherein consumers’ demand for cheaper products have resulted in the exportation of entire industries in the quest for less expensive manufacturing operations.
This has indeed resulted in economic boom for emerging economies in Asia and South America but it has created economic dependence on foreign goods and services. These emerging economies are now so reliant on consumption by “powerhouse economies” in North America and Europe that a small decrease in demand creates a large decrease in their economies. In turn, that causes a ripple effect in the global economy.
How do we break this cycle of dependence and easily created instability?
First, producer-exporter economies must begin to look inward for market stability—realign their economies to produce goods for the local market.
Second, importer economies must begin to look inward for products and services instead of searching the globe for the lowest prices.
Third, exporter economies that rely on non-renewable resources (e.g. oil) must look forward to the day those resources are depleted and begin to develop locally produced goods for their local market.
Fourth, economies that rely on the importation of non-renewable resources must begin to develop alternative methods of creating the results of those resources (e.g. electricity, automobiles, etc).
Throwing money at the problem is a tried (and proven wrong) method of fixing these problems. For example, take a look at the interstate highway project of the 1950s in the United States. Sure, it created construction and manufacturing jobs but the plan lacked foresight. It created a boom in automobile manufacturing (thus demand for oil) and destroyed the mass transit system in the process. Now the world is facing the depletion of petroleum and we have no alternative means of transportation.
When the world’s supply of petroleum has been depleted it will cause the economies of not only the oil-producing countries to collapse, but the entire global economy will be crushed.
Economies that rely on exportation (or importation) of goods will cease to function, creating chaos and anarchy.
We (the global community) must begin to demand locally produced goods and services to head-off this coming global collapse—we haven’t seen anything yet!
That, my friends, is how a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world causes a hurricane on the other side of the world.