Buying American (or if you're Australian, then Australia, etc.)

It goes both ways.  You may not like buying Chinese, but Chinese manufacturing opens a lot of doors for small startups.  In the past, to produce say, a tech product, you'd need to build an incredibly expensive factory, expensive tools, etc...  It would be a multi-million dollar endeavour.  Now even small companies can build hardware thanks to Chinese manufacturing.  Small companies that couldn't operate 100% in the US.  Plus, now that the Chinese economy is picking up, and Chinese can afford more luxury goods, they've actually become a large market for alot of American and European companies, and contribute greatly to the welfare of those companies.  For instance, GM gains a very good portion of it's revenue from China, which in turn contributes back to the American economy. 

That being said, food and other consumable goods are best sourced locally.  And I'd rather support a small, local startup than something bigger (provided the small, local business can produce on quality).  Small businesses also contribute much more to the economy than corporations do.

But China does serve a purpose, outsourced manufacturing enables western entrepreneurs to build things they wouldn't otherwise be capable of.  For all the ills of the global economy, there are also alot of benefits...
 

It depends on your ideology.  I try to avoid buying things from non-democratic countries, and especially middle eastern aristocracies/theocracies.  Sometimes it's unavoidable.

I wish US-made products actually said the state they came from.  I don't love the whole USA.  For example, I'd rather buy a non-union-made Subaru from Arkansas, even though it's a Japanese company, than I would want to buy a union-made Chevy bail-out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Splinemodel 

It depends on your ideology.  I try to avoid buying things from non-democratic countries, and especially middle eastern aristocracies/theocracies.  Sometimes it's unavoidable.

 

I wish US-made products actually said the state they came from.  I don't love the whole USA.  For example, I'd rather buy a non-union-made Subaru from Arkansas, even though it's a Japanese company, than I would want to buy a union-made Chevy bail-out.

Ideology shouldn't have anything to do with it.  Products should be bought based on value - that is, the quality and usefulness for the price.  Let the market decide the rest.  If one country can produce certain products more efficiently, so be it.  

The locality of a product should be a boon for the quality of said product - for instance, local vegetables should always be higher quality than sourced vegetables since the local product can be grown to optimal maturity as it travels less...  

If China can produce better products cheaper, they should produce it.  But as one economy rises, costs will inevitably go up as workers demand higher wages, currency values inflate, and the efficiency inevitably goes down.  As this happens, it will once again be more efficient to produce in the former country.  

An interesting note - Lenovo, the second largest PC maker in the world, is building a new factory in the USA.  Samsung also recently built a US factory.  Hyundai has also recently built factories in North America.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikeb85 

Ideology shouldn't have anything to do with it.

Why not?  I am the market.  I can choose a product on whatever merits it has, including that it does *not* fund people who don't believe in the concept of free markets.

I absolutely try to buy locally as much as possible.  Not because of some kind of xenophobia but because the quality and value is usually much better.  You don't have to pay for shipping from half way around the world (and its associated environmental impact) and it's usually not a product made by a large multi-national that prioritises profits above quality.  The one exception is Apple which is now unique in consumer electronics for valuing quality (Sony used to back in the day).

I try to avoid Chinese-made anything.  It can be very hard but apart from Apple products I can say I haven't bought anything made in China for a long time.  It's really quite sad but if you go into any mall or chain clothing shop here in Australia it's almost impossible to find anything that's made here.  A friend and I challenged ourselves to find anything made locally in a mall once and we couldn't.  It's one of the reasons I avoid malls like the plague and much prefer smaller local shops on the high street. The vast majority of people don't seem to care but if they did and they were as vigilant it could really turn around a country's economy around and provide a huge boost to local manufacturing and clothing industries, not to mention employment.

So in short, it's not that locally made products can't compete on price and quality because they can, it's that they seem to be getting shut out of the opportunity to have their products stocked and showcased in places like malls and that large national and international chains have embraced "Made in China" as ways to enhance their profitability.