Oh, so THIS is why Nazis took refuge in Argentina. Because they're freedom-limiting fascists. How about letting your people decide for themselves what they'd like to purchase?!
We need to stop using the incorrect term "Third World Nation", I believe what most of you are looking for is "Least Developed Nations", Third World was a Cold War term for nations not allied with NATO (First World) and the Soviet Bloc (Second World).
Nothing stupid about trying to protect the people who the government supposedly serves. RIM is complying, as did other manufacturers. Not so stupid after all.
Are you naive? The government is purely altruistic, and doesn't have its hands in the local businesses that stand to profit.
They're strongly encouraging manufacturers to build in Argentina, producing decent paying jobs for their citizens rather than simply some tax money from the importers. It might be a little heavy-handed, perhaps not. The employment situation there may require strong measures.
Unfortunately unless you have the clout (numbers) of a brazil or china, you can't pull this kind of crap without the consequences down the road being 5x larger than the benefit in the short term. Cutting off the mutually beneficial trade between two willing parties (apple and the argentine consumer) only hurts, it never helps. Argentina saw what Brazil did and decided to try their own hand at it. When citizens start leaving because you can only buy one brand of cell phone, one brand of car, one brand of milk, it'll hit home.
It only creates a huge black market, which also creates crime and criminals from people who would have been law abiding citizens otherwise.
We all know how this will play out. Apple will see no reason outside of this ban to build in Argentina and will simply pull all sales from Argentina.
And folks will simply buy else where and smuggle them in just like they do for everywhere else that has similar restrictions either by the local government or US export embargoes.
Argentinian Protectionism = American Protectionism. The math is simple. Note to the fascists in Argentina: Ban our products, we ban YOURS. As long as you don't need our business, things will work out just fine for you. However . . . .
According to the CIA Wold Factbook, only 5.4% of Argentina's exports go to the U.S., and it imports 13.8% of its total from the U.S.. So, which "math" were you referring to?
This is just one of many examples of why government bureaucrats are a disease on society.
Ok, the idea it self may have some sense, but wtf? You want business to open manufacturing plants in your country? Make it so it will be economically feasible for them, you know... like make it easy to hire people, drop the taxes, etc. And, more importantly, maybe it will be feasible if you have a large, strong and growing economy that drives the demand —*who'll build the plant in country with a failing economy? These kind of measures make more sense when the economy is growing, not when it's going down the tubes.
And don't even forget that Foxconn recently opened a plant in Brazil —*I double we will ever see a second plant making Apple stuff in South America. I think either this policy will be uplifted in a few months, or the companies will find a loop-hole in it. Either way I doubt any Apple stuff will be made in Argentina.
Apparently they don't realize that the cost to assemble a phone is a very small percentage of the actual cost of the phone. They might be keeping 0.2% of the cost of the phone circulating in their country. There are probably better ways to keep money in the country. A 1% smart phone tax would be better. As others have said, this requirement to build in the country will just increase crime and the black market. RIM might be able to do it because they build generic plastic phones. iPhones are more complex to assemble, so Apple may choose to pull out instead of looking for qualified people. Rumor is Foxconn (for Apple) tried to open a plant in Brazil and were not able to find qualified workers.
Apple can just wait until the Argentina government realizes how few jobs and little revenue is made and starts allowing imports again.
LOL and some people complain about US government interference in business.
On the other hand, maybe we can do the same thing and bring back some manufacturing jobs to the US.
I'm sick and tired of CHEAP QUALITY MADE IN CHINA stuff. Let's bring jobs back to the USA!
On the other hand, in order to really get OUR economy up, the USA need to produce better products than the competition. I'm talking about the automobile industry. Although the Japanese DO have plants in the USA, so technically, when I buy a Honda or Toyota, I AM supporting the American workers. Let's see GM and other American car companies make better cars!
They're strongly encouraging manufacturers to build in Argentina, producing decent paying jobs for their citizens rather than simply some tax money from the importers. It might be a little heavy-handed, perhaps not. The employment situation there may require strong measures.
Jesus H Christ. It's freaking blackmail. You people never fucking learn. You cannot FORCE companies to produce jobs. You want jobs? Produce a great business climate. If I were Apple I would demonstrate the fact that my market cap is 50% of your total GDP and tell you to GO SCREW!
Argentina was just coming off the back of a complete failure of their economy and that was before the so called recession hit in 2008. I seriously do think that they have learned from their mistakes and so all the negative comments are somewhat uninformed.
Argentina is far from a third world country and I'm guessing they're tired of being a puppet for the US.
I rather like the Argentinian people and culture. Have you ever been there? The cities remind me of Europe. They also have excellent food and wine.
I'm not an expert on economic strategy but I can can tell you from my very recent trip around Latin America that there are iPhones everywhere. I ask a few people about theirs and they confirmed that they were jail broken. I'm assuming many others are as well. A lot of 3G and 3Gs models seen in the wild down there.
BTW... Why does Skype suck so bad on iPhone? I can't keep a connection for more than a few seconds. My MBP works perfectly on the exact same wifi connection. Skype is really important when calling around Latin America. I just wish the iPhone version would work. It is a complete fail for me.
Jesus H Christ. It's freaking blackmail. You people never ***** learn. You cannot FORCE companies to produce jobs. You want jobs? Produce a great business climate. If I were Apple I would demonstrate the fact that my market cap is 50% of your total GDP and tell you to GO SCREW!
Maybe Apple should just BUY Argentina and.... name it Steve Jobs!
"Designed by Apple in Steve Jobs. Assembled in Steve Jobs."
Or Apple should buy Argentina and name it APPLE.
"Designed by Apple in Apple. Assembled in Apple."
The entire business can take place in that country and EVERY Apple job will belong to its citizen.
Forcing people to buy locally can only be a good thing as all the money from the people goes directly back into the economy propping it up.
See, that's where you're wrong. Forcing people to buy ANYTHING can only be bad, as those same people presumably have already chosen what they prefer and will buy it. Being forced to buy something else instead necessarily makes them worse off. While it's a hard to quantify cost, it's a real cost. Don't be so naive.
Comments
Argentina is far from a third world country and I'm guessing they're tired of being a puppet for the US.
Technically, they were a Third World nation. (is being pedantic, and completely understand what you meant)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World
We need to stop using the incorrect term "Third World Nation", I believe what most of you are looking for is "Least Developed Nations", Third World was a Cold War term for nations not allied with NATO (First World) and the Soviet Bloc (Second World).
Nothing stupid about trying to protect the people who the government supposedly serves. RIM is complying, as did other manufacturers. Not so stupid after all.
Are you naive? The government is purely altruistic, and doesn't have its hands in the local businesses that stand to profit.
Why not just raise tariffs?
They're strongly encouraging manufacturers to build in Argentina, producing decent paying jobs for their citizens rather than simply some tax money from the importers. It might be a little heavy-handed, perhaps not. The employment situation there may require strong measures.
Unfortunately unless you have the clout (numbers) of a brazil or china, you can't pull this kind of crap without the consequences down the road being 5x larger than the benefit in the short term. Cutting off the mutually beneficial trade between two willing parties (apple and the argentine consumer) only hurts, it never helps. Argentina saw what Brazil did and decided to try their own hand at it. When citizens start leaving because you can only buy one brand of cell phone, one brand of car, one brand of milk, it'll hit home.
It only creates a huge black market, which also creates crime and criminals from people who would have been law abiding citizens otherwise.
And folks will simply buy else where and smuggle them in just like they do for everywhere else that has similar restrictions either by the local government or US export embargoes.
Where there's a fan boy there's a way
stupid argentina
stupid ghostface147
Argentinian Protectionism = American Protectionism. The math is simple. Note to the fascists in Argentina: Ban our products, we ban YOURS. As long as you don't need our business, things will work out just fine for you. However . . . .
According to the CIA Wold Factbook, only 5.4% of Argentina's exports go to the U.S., and it imports 13.8% of its total from the U.S.. So, which "math" were you referring to?
Ok, the idea it self may have some sense, but wtf? You want business to open manufacturing plants in your country? Make it so it will be economically feasible for them, you know... like make it easy to hire people, drop the taxes, etc. And, more importantly, maybe it will be feasible if you have a large, strong and growing economy that drives the demand —*who'll build the plant in country with a failing economy? These kind of measures make more sense when the economy is growing, not when it's going down the tubes.
And don't even forget that Foxconn recently opened a plant in Brazil —*I double we will ever see a second plant making Apple stuff in South America. I think either this policy will be uplifted in a few months, or the companies will find a loop-hole in it. Either way I doubt any Apple stuff will be made in Argentina.
Apple can just wait until the Argentina government realizes how few jobs and little revenue is made and starts allowing imports again.
[insult removed]
You quoted me twice? I'm touched. How sweet.
LOL and some people complain about US government interference in business.
On the other hand, maybe we can do the same thing and bring back some manufacturing jobs to the US.
I'm sick and tired of CHEAP QUALITY MADE IN CHINA stuff. Let's bring jobs back to the USA!
On the other hand, in order to really get OUR economy up, the USA need to produce better products than the competition. I'm talking about the automobile industry. Although the Japanese DO have plants in the USA, so technically, when I buy a Honda or Toyota, I AM supporting the American workers. Let's see GM and other American car companies make better cars!
They're strongly encouraging manufacturers to build in Argentina, producing decent paying jobs for their citizens rather than simply some tax money from the importers. It might be a little heavy-handed, perhaps not. The employment situation there may require strong measures.
Jesus H Christ. It's freaking blackmail. You people never fucking learn. You cannot FORCE companies to produce jobs. You want jobs? Produce a great business climate. If I were Apple I would demonstrate the fact that my market cap is 50% of your total GDP and tell you to GO SCREW!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argenti...99–2002)
If people have to go into debt to get products like an iPhone or iPad or MacBook then they don't help the economy instead they add to the problem.
Spending does help the economy but it is a false economy if people go into debt or rack up credit card debt.
Forcing people to buy locally can only be a good thing as all the money from the people goes directly back into the economy propping it up.
America should learn a thing or two about this because their economy is in the crapper at the moment with no signs of coming out anytime too soon.
Don't mock someone simply because you don't understand what they are doing. At least study what they are doing to see if it will work or not.
But then America has never been that way inclined and you know what the old saying is about those who fail to learn from history.
Argentina is far from a third world country and I'm guessing they're tired of being a puppet for the US.
I rather like the Argentinian people and culture. Have you ever been there? The cities remind me of Europe. They also have excellent food and wine.
I'm not an expert on economic strategy but I can can tell you from my very recent trip around Latin America that there are iPhones everywhere. I ask a few people about theirs and they confirmed that they were jail broken. I'm assuming many others are as well. A lot of 3G and 3Gs models seen in the wild down there.
BTW... Why does Skype suck so bad on iPhone? I can't keep a connection for more than a few seconds. My MBP works perfectly on the exact same wifi connection. Skype is really important when calling around Latin America. I just wish the iPhone version would work. It is a complete fail for me.
Jesus H Christ. It's freaking blackmail. You people never ***** learn. You cannot FORCE companies to produce jobs. You want jobs? Produce a great business climate. If I were Apple I would demonstrate the fact that my market cap is 50% of your total GDP and tell you to GO SCREW!
Maybe Apple should just BUY Argentina and.... name it Steve Jobs!
"Designed by Apple in Steve Jobs. Assembled in Steve Jobs."
Or Apple should buy Argentina and name it APPLE.
"Designed by Apple in Apple. Assembled in Apple."
The entire business can take place in that country and EVERY Apple job will belong to its citizen.
Forcing people to buy locally can only be a good thing as all the money from the people goes directly back into the economy propping it up.
See, that's where you're wrong. Forcing people to buy ANYTHING can only be bad, as those same people presumably have already chosen what they prefer and will buy it. Being forced to buy something else instead necessarily makes them worse off. While it's a hard to quantify cost, it's a real cost. Don't be so naive.