Yes, I read something about Foxconn looking at building a factory in Texas, but it's far too soon to see it as any kind of trend.
The only thing that is uncertain is the timing of the trend, but the trend will come. The current trade imbalances cannot persist indefinitely anymore than the housing bubble could persist indefinitely. There will come a time when the Chinese realize that giving us goods in return for miniature portraits of George Washington that they (essentially) dump in a hole in the ground is not a good deal for them. One day they will decide that instead of holding onto all of those little GW picts, they'd like something more substantial. At that point, they will either sell us less stuff or buy more stuff from us. Either way, it will increase employment in the US, including in manufacturing.
Love to see it, but if it happens you can say goodbye to the $499 price point. Imagine the iPad being manufactured by Americans in a union shop. It would be a beautiful thing but you could probably put a one in front of the $499 and nobody would buy it.
I can only assume it's the low price point that compels people to buy a crippled device in the first place. This Sunday I sat down on the couch with my glossy iPad to watch the season opener of my favorite NFL team. I went to the official website to look at some stats and discovered it's all flash based. So another site I can add to the list that I can't see. Worthless.
On a level playing field with workers rights being enforced In most cases american workers can compete .
America is still the number one manufacturer in the world Our workers are still the best .
Unfortunately western manufacturers can't compete - our standard of living too high, our worker benefits and wages to large to be able to compete. This alongside a history of strike/worker action makes western manufacturers extremely unattractive to international developers.
On a level playing field with workers rights being enforced In most cases american workers can compete .
America is still the number one manufacturer in the world Our workers are still the best .
Apple should think about home more often.
9
Whether they are or not is irrelevant. Even if American workers are average or below average in terms of productivity, it should still be possible to use them to produce stuff so long as their wages RELATIVE TO WORKERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES (!!!!) are allowed to fall enough to make them competitive. But their wages RELATIVE TO WORKERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES can only fall through changes in the value of the dollar. Otherwise, a fall in the wages for American workers in dollar terms is only a fall relative to other American workers, not relative to workers in other countries.
The Chinese (and others) are currently preventing a fall in the wages of American workers (as a group) by keeping their currency fixed at an "artificially" high level. They do this by using their currency to buy up dollars, and then use those dollars to buy treasury bonds. This actually creates a nice opportunity for us to exploit, but because the American people and most of their politicians do not understand the economics of the situation, we are failing to exploit the opportunity. Instead, we are actually suffering an economic depression (at least in part) because of this currency manipulation. I find the situation fairly disgusting.
The only thing that is uncertain is the timing of the trend, but the trend will come. The current trade imbalances cannot persist indefinitely anymore than the housing bubble could persist indefinitely. There will come a time when the Chinese realize that giving us goods in return for miniature portraits of George Washington that they (essentially) dump in a hole in the ground is not a good deal for them. One day they will decide that instead of holding onto all of those little GW picts, they'd like something more substantial. At that point, they will either sell us less stuff or buy more stuff from us. Either way, it will increase employment in the US, including in manufacturing.
Perhaps. I think we've been hearing similar predictions for decades, yet the trade deficit continues to grow. The last time something similar played out, it was Japanese investors pouring their trade surplus into U.S. real estate and businesses during the 1980s. On a whole, this worked out pretty badly for the Japanese. A few of the investments stuck, but many turned out to be disastrous. The fact is, trade imbalances can go on for a long time, but they should result in relative adjustments in currency valuations -- which hasn't occurred in this case because China artificially deflates its currency to promote exports and curb imports.
Comments
Yes, I read something about Foxconn looking at building a factory in Texas, but it's far too soon to see it as any kind of trend.
The only thing that is uncertain is the timing of the trend, but the trend will come. The current trade imbalances cannot persist indefinitely anymore than the housing bubble could persist indefinitely. There will come a time when the Chinese realize that giving us goods in return for miniature portraits of George Washington that they (essentially) dump in a hole in the ground is not a good deal for them. One day they will decide that instead of holding onto all of those little GW picts, they'd like something more substantial. At that point, they will either sell us less stuff or buy more stuff from us. Either way, it will increase employment in the US, including in manufacturing.
Love to see it, but if it happens you can say goodbye to the $499 price point. Imagine the iPad being manufactured by Americans in a union shop. It would be a beautiful thing but you could probably put a one in front of the $499 and nobody would buy it.
I can only assume it's the low price point that compels people to buy a crippled device in the first place. This Sunday I sat down on the couch with my glossy iPad to watch the season opener of my favorite NFL team. I went to the official website to look at some stats and discovered it's all flash based. So another site I can add to the list that I can't see. Worthless.
On a level playing field with workers rights being enforced In most cases american workers can compete .
America is still the number one manufacturer in the world Our workers are still the best .
Apple should think about home more often.
9
Unfortunately western manufacturers can't compete - our standard of living too high, our worker benefits and wages to large to be able to compete. This alongside a history of strike/worker action makes western manufacturers extremely unattractive to international developers.
Not fair, not nice, but true.
sad
but yes
true
On a level playing field with workers rights being enforced In most cases american workers can compete .
America is still the number one manufacturer in the world Our workers are still the best .
Apple should think about home more often.
9
Whether they are or not is irrelevant. Even if American workers are average or below average in terms of productivity, it should still be possible to use them to produce stuff so long as their wages RELATIVE TO WORKERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES (!!!!) are allowed to fall enough to make them competitive. But their wages RELATIVE TO WORKERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES can only fall through changes in the value of the dollar. Otherwise, a fall in the wages for American workers in dollar terms is only a fall relative to other American workers, not relative to workers in other countries.
The Chinese (and others) are currently preventing a fall in the wages of American workers (as a group) by keeping their currency fixed at an "artificially" high level. They do this by using their currency to buy up dollars, and then use those dollars to buy treasury bonds. This actually creates a nice opportunity for us to exploit, but because the American people and most of their politicians do not understand the economics of the situation, we are failing to exploit the opportunity. Instead, we are actually suffering an economic depression (at least in part) because of this currency manipulation. I find the situation fairly disgusting.
The only thing that is uncertain is the timing of the trend, but the trend will come. The current trade imbalances cannot persist indefinitely anymore than the housing bubble could persist indefinitely. There will come a time when the Chinese realize that giving us goods in return for miniature portraits of George Washington that they (essentially) dump in a hole in the ground is not a good deal for them. One day they will decide that instead of holding onto all of those little GW picts, they'd like something more substantial. At that point, they will either sell us less stuff or buy more stuff from us. Either way, it will increase employment in the US, including in manufacturing.
Perhaps. I think we've been hearing similar predictions for decades, yet the trade deficit continues to grow. The last time something similar played out, it was Japanese investors pouring their trade surplus into U.S. real estate and businesses during the 1980s. On a whole, this worked out pretty badly for the Japanese. A few of the investments stuck, but many turned out to be disastrous. The fact is, trade imbalances can go on for a long time, but they should result in relative adjustments in currency valuations -- which hasn't occurred in this case because China artificially deflates its currency to promote exports and curb imports.