BUY AMERICAN (avoid that made in China)

[CA renter]

Submitted by sdduuuude on June 1, 2009 – 11:01pm.

And buying stuff I need from the higher priced vendor (USA) cuts in to my personal profits. That’s my point. Why should the consumer fund the “Buy American” campaign? Why not the producers ?
——————–

Because the producers ARE the consumers, and the consumers ARE the producers.

When your customers are only able to pay 60% of what they once paid for your product/service (because they are making less at their jobs), that will cut into your margins as well.

If you think you will then turn to your employees for more wage concessions (and your competitors and suppliers do so as well), then ultimately, your customers will also see a further reduction in wages. If this deflationary spiral sounds good to you — which would be much more vicious than an asset/housing price deflation, BTW — go for it! You first!

The reason why Americans have been the worlds #1 consumer is because our wages have been comparatively high (credit has masked the stagnation/deflation of wages over the past few decades).

Every producer NEEDS a consumer. Americans have been so brainwashed by the supply-side capitalists that they’ve lost sight of what makes the cycle go ’round. You need producers AND consumers. In a world where everyone is paid $2./day, to whom do you expect to sell all the wares you’ve so tediously worked to produce?

You cannot have higher asset prices over the long haul (and “growth” in the prices of things you sell) without wage inflation.

[PKMAN]

1. We are too globally synergized to go back to the old protectionism way. Food is about the only thing we can still find relatively easily that’s still made in USA. Think Harley Davidson is all USA? I’d bet you that there’s got a be some kind of foam, chrome, steel, plastic or other parts that are from China. The fact is, most American products and services are no longer purely made in USA.

2. If buying American means spending more money and more time (time=money) find these items, who’s going to compensate us? Would our employers give us a raise for buying American? Would our gov’t give us a tax break for it? Money that could’ve been saved to go to vacation, buy a nicer car or send kids to college are now been tapped into just to buy American. How would that benefit Disney World, Chevy or SDSU?

3. I remember buying my 1997 Honda Civic EX (made in Ohio) for $13,500 and selling it in 2004 for $7,000. Had I bought a similarly-priced/equipped Ford Focus, Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, I would not even been able to get $5,000. So for some of the posters that argued what’s wrong with buying American-branded car (that could be made in Mexico or Canada), what’s wrong is that you’ll get less than 50% of the original value in less than 5 year, whereas at least my Honda kept more than 50% even after nearly 7 years. It might be nothing but perception nowadays that give Honda and Toyota superior resale value over the Big Three but whose fault is that?

The problems with American trade imbalances are too deep and too complicated for us casual bloggers to fully comprehend, and certainly not something that a “don’t buy Chinese” internet campaign can fix.

[PKMAN]

1. We are too globally synergized to go back to the old protectionism way. Food is about the only thing we can still find relatively easily that’s still made in USA. Think Harley Davidson is all USA? I’d bet you that there’s got a be some kind of foam, chrome, steel, plastic or other parts that are from China. The fact is, most American products and services are no longer purely made in USA.

2. If buying American means spending more money and more time (time=money) find these items, who’s going to compensate us? Would our employers give us a raise for buying American? Would our gov’t give us a tax break for it? Money that could’ve been saved to go to vacation, buy a nicer car or send kids to college are now been tapped into just to buy American. How would that benefit Disney World, Chevy or SDSU?

3. I remember buying my 1997 Honda Civic EX (made in Ohio) for $13,500 and selling it in 2004 for $7,000. Had I bought a similarly-priced/equipped Ford Focus, Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, I would not even been able to get $5,000. So for some of the posters that argued what’s wrong with buying American-branded car (that could be made in Mexico or Canada), what’s wrong is that you’ll get less than 50% of the original value in less than 5 year, whereas at least my Honda kept more than 50% even after nearly 7 years. It might be nothing but perception nowadays that give Honda and Toyota superior resale value over the Big Three but whose fault is that?

The problems with American trade imbalances are too deep and too complicated for us casual bloggers to fully comprehend, and certainly not something that a “don’t buy Chinese” internet campaign can fix.

[PKMAN]

1. We are too globally synergized to go back to the old protectionism way. Food is about the only thing we can still find relatively easily that’s still made in USA. Think Harley Davidson is all USA? I’d bet you that there’s got a be some kind of foam, chrome, steel, plastic or other parts that are from China. The fact is, most American products and services are no longer purely made in USA.

2. If buying American means spending more money and more time (time=money) find these items, who’s going to compensate us? Would our employers give us a raise for buying American? Would our gov’t give us a tax break for it? Money that could’ve been saved to go to vacation, buy a nicer car or send kids to college are now been tapped into just to buy American. How would that benefit Disney World, Chevy or SDSU?

3. I remember buying my 1997 Honda Civic EX (made in Ohio) for $13,500 and selling it in 2004 for $7,000. Had I bought a similarly-priced/equipped Ford Focus, Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, I would not even been able to get $5,000. So for some of the posters that argued what’s wrong with buying American-branded car (that could be made in Mexico or Canada), what’s wrong is that you’ll get less than 50% of the original value in less than 5 year, whereas at least my Honda kept more than 50% even after nearly 7 years. It might be nothing but perception nowadays that give Honda and Toyota superior resale value over the Big Three but whose fault is that?

The problems with American trade imbalances are too deep and too complicated for us casual bloggers to fully comprehend, and certainly not something that a “don’t buy Chinese” internet campaign can fix.

[PKMAN]

1. We are too globally synergized to go back to the old protectionism way. Food is about the only thing we can still find relatively easily that’s still made in USA. Think Harley Davidson is all USA? I’d bet you that there’s got a be some kind of foam, chrome, steel, plastic or other parts that are from China. The fact is, most American products and services are no longer purely made in USA.

2. If buying American means spending more money and more time (time=money) find these items, who’s going to compensate us? Would our employers give us a raise for buying American? Would our gov’t give us a tax break for it? Money that could’ve been saved to go to vacation, buy a nicer car or send kids to college are now been tapped into just to buy American. How would that benefit Disney World, Chevy or SDSU?

3. I remember buying my 1997 Honda Civic EX (made in Ohio) for $13,500 and selling it in 2004 for $7,000. Had I bought a similarly-priced/equipped Ford Focus, Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, I would not even been able to get $5,000. So for some of the posters that argued what’s wrong with buying American-branded car (that could be made in Mexico or Canada), what’s wrong is that you’ll get less than 50% of the original value in less than 5 year, whereas at least my Honda kept more than 50% even after nearly 7 years. It might be nothing but perception nowadays that give Honda and Toyota superior resale value over the Big Three but whose fault is that?

The problems with American trade imbalances are too deep and too complicated for us casual bloggers to fully comprehend, and certainly not something that a “don’t buy Chinese” internet campaign can fix.

[PKMAN]

1. We are too globally synergized to go back to the old protectionism way. Food is about the only thing we can still find relatively easily that’s still made in USA. Think Harley Davidson is all USA? I’d bet you that there’s got a be some kind of foam, chrome, steel, plastic or other parts that are from China. The fact is, most American products and services are no longer purely made in USA.

2. If buying American means spending more money and more time (time=money) find these items, who’s going to compensate us? Would our employers give us a raise for buying American? Would our gov’t give us a tax break for it? Money that could’ve been saved to go to vacation, buy a nicer car or send kids to college are now been tapped into just to buy American. How would that benefit Disney World, Chevy or SDSU?

3. I remember buying my 1997 Honda Civic EX (made in Ohio) for $13,500 and selling it in 2004 for $7,000. Had I bought a similarly-priced/equipped Ford Focus, Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, I would not even been able to get $5,000. So for some of the posters that argued what’s wrong with buying American-branded car (that could be made in Mexico or Canada), what’s wrong is that you’ll get less than 50% of the original value in less than 5 year, whereas at least my Honda kept more than 50% even after nearly 7 years. It might be nothing but perception nowadays that give Honda and Toyota superior resale value over the Big Three but whose fault is that?

The problems with American trade imbalances are too deep and too complicated for us casual bloggers to fully comprehend, and certainly not something that a “don’t buy Chinese” internet campaign can fix.

[ocrenter]

the effort is worth praising. the problem is it won’t make a bit of a difference.

we still ultimately have the most fundamental issue at hand: 3rd world countries having cheaper labor and looser regulation compared to the US.

maybe some recession and weakened dollar isn’t so bad afterall. maybe lowered wages in America isn’t such a bad thing.

lower wage and weaker dollar tip the trade balance in our favor. we can actually make stuff again and be profitable and competitive.

perhaps we inflated our wages to the point that we priced ourselves out of the labor market completely. lower our wages and suddenly we are competitive again. Wow, what a concept.

unfortunately recessions are necessary, a developed economy grow at pace with its population growth. if it accelerate above that pace than it is doing it by hyperinflating its wage. which drive it out of business.

we have huge run ups on the up side of bubbles, but we artificially cut short the downside, the result is the unsustainable increase that price us out of the world labor market.

here’s an analogy: my kid decides to eat 20 dumplings (made in LA!) at lunch time. she then compensate for her greediness by not wanting to have any dinner. upside and downside, evened out.

but let’s say we still force her to eat a full dinner. overtime she would be obese and become less competitive on the play yard.

make sense, right?

[ocrenter]

the effort is worth praising. the problem is it won’t make a bit of a difference.

we still ultimately have the most fundamental issue at hand: 3rd world countries having cheaper labor and looser regulation compared to the US.

maybe some recession and weakened dollar isn’t so bad afterall. maybe lowered wages in America isn’t such a bad thing.

lower wage and weaker dollar tip the trade balance in our favor. we can actually make stuff again and be profitable and competitive.

perhaps we inflated our wages to the point that we priced ourselves out of the labor market completely. lower our wages and suddenly we are competitive again. Wow, what a concept.

unfortunately recessions are necessary, a developed economy grow at pace with its population growth. if it accelerate above that pace than it is doing it by hyperinflating its wage. which drive it out of business.

we have huge run ups on the up side of bubbles, but we artificially cut short the downside, the result is the unsustainable increase that price us out of the world labor market.

here’s an analogy: my kid decides to eat 20 dumplings (made in LA!) at lunch time. she then compensate for her greediness by not wanting to have any dinner. upside and downside, evened out.

but let’s say we still force her to eat a full dinner. overtime she would be obese and become less competitive on the play yard.

make sense, right?

[ocrenter]

the effort is worth praising. the problem is it won’t make a bit of a difference.

we still ultimately have the most fundamental issue at hand: 3rd world countries having cheaper labor and looser regulation compared to the US.

maybe some recession and weakened dollar isn’t so bad afterall. maybe lowered wages in America isn’t such a bad thing.

lower wage and weaker dollar tip the trade balance in our favor. we can actually make stuff again and be profitable and competitive.

perhaps we inflated our wages to the point that we priced ourselves out of the labor market completely. lower our wages and suddenly we are competitive again. Wow, what a concept.

unfortunately recessions are necessary, a developed economy grow at pace with its population growth. if it accelerate above that pace than it is doing it by hyperinflating its wage. which drive it out of business.

we have huge run ups on the up side of bubbles, but we artificially cut short the downside, the result is the unsustainable increase that price us out of the world labor market.

here’s an analogy: my kid decides to eat 20 dumplings (made in LA!) at lunch time. she then compensate for her greediness by not wanting to have any dinner. upside and downside, evened out.

but let’s say we still force her to eat a full dinner. overtime she would be obese and become less competitive on the play yard.

make sense, right?

[ocrenter]

the effort is worth praising. the problem is it won’t make a bit of a difference.

we still ultimately have the most fundamental issue at hand: 3rd world countries having cheaper labor and looser regulation compared to the US.

maybe some recession and weakened dollar isn’t so bad afterall. maybe lowered wages in America isn’t such a bad thing.

lower wage and weaker dollar tip the trade balance in our favor. we can actually make stuff again and be profitable and competitive.

perhaps we inflated our wages to the point that we priced ourselves out of the labor market completely. lower our wages and suddenly we are competitive again. Wow, what a concept.

unfortunately recessions are necessary, a developed economy grow at pace with its population growth. if it accelerate above that pace than it is doing it by hyperinflating its wage. which drive it out of business.

we have huge run ups on the up side of bubbles, but we artificially cut short the downside, the result is the unsustainable increase that price us out of the world labor market.

here’s an analogy: my kid decides to eat 20 dumplings (made in LA!) at lunch time. she then compensate for her greediness by not wanting to have any dinner. upside and downside, evened out.

but let’s say we still force her to eat a full dinner. overtime she would be obese and become less competitive on the play yard.

make sense, right?

[ocrenter]

the effort is worth praising. the problem is it won’t make a bit of a difference.

we still ultimately have the most fundamental issue at hand: 3rd world countries having cheaper labor and looser regulation compared to the US.

maybe some recession and weakened dollar isn’t so bad afterall. maybe lowered wages in America isn’t such a bad thing.

lower wage and weaker dollar tip the trade balance in our favor. we can actually make stuff again and be profitable and competitive.

perhaps we inflated our wages to the point that we priced ourselves out of the labor market completely. lower our wages and suddenly we are competitive again. Wow, what a concept.

unfortunately recessions are necessary, a developed economy grow at pace with its population growth. if it accelerate above that pace than it is doing it by hyperinflating its wage. which drive it out of business.

we have huge run ups on the up side of bubbles, but we artificially cut short the downside, the result is the unsustainable increase that price us out of the world labor market.

here’s an analogy: my kid decides to eat 20 dumplings (made in LA!) at lunch time. she then compensate for her greediness by not wanting to have any dinner. upside and downside, evened out.

but let’s say we still force her to eat a full dinner. overtime she would be obese and become less competitive on the play yard.

make sense, right?

[jpinpb]

At the risk of sounding bad again, generally speaking only, China is not known for quality products. It’s known for cheap products (even their steel) and you get what you pay for.

As flu mentioned, seems a bigger problem is people’s desire for consumption, cheap consumption, that ends up discarded at a garage sale eventually.

If you sell your car in 5 years, sure, maybe it’s lost value. Hold it for 20. Wish I did that w/my Camaro. I’d have one heck of a downpayment on a house. (Never watch Mecum?)

I think we’ve come full circle again, though. The problem is that people don’t want to work for less money here, but people want to buy cheap. Buying cheap from Asia means someone potentially in the U.S.A. could be soon out a job.

So many jobs have been outsourced. Jobs that still seem plentiful are service-related jobs. They typically don’t pay very well. Unless you’re a doctor, which even then, selective surgeries, some people leave the country b/c it’s cheaper. Cheap dental, go to Mexico.

Between jobs being outsourced and people that do come over here taking jobs for less (whether Mexican day laborers or nurses from the Philippines) it is getting more difficult to find jobs. (Please – again – I am not being prejudice here. Trying to make a point about Americans losing jobs – not targeting any countries – forgive the stereotypical nature)

I did not expect to meet so much opposition to attempting this for a month, particularly in light of the continuing job losses. But as I said earlier, I’m not much of a consumer, so this would not be a big sacrifice to me. With so many people touting patriotism during war, I was thinking this experiment was an easy no-brainer. Think of it as economic war. No one dies from this.

[jpinpb]

At the risk of sounding bad again, generally speaking only, China is not known for quality products. It’s known for cheap products (even their steel) and you get what you pay for.

As flu mentioned, seems a bigger problem is people’s desire for consumption, cheap consumption, that ends up discarded at a garage sale eventually.

If you sell your car in 5 years, sure, maybe it’s lost value. Hold it for 20. Wish I did that w/my Camaro. I’d have one heck of a downpayment on a house. (Never watch Mecum?)

I think we’ve come full circle again, though. The problem is that people don’t want to work for less money here, but people want to buy cheap. Buying cheap from Asia means someone potentially in the U.S.A. could be soon out a job.

So many jobs have been outsourced. Jobs that still seem plentiful are service-related jobs. They typically don’t pay very well. Unless you’re a doctor, which even then, selective surgeries, some people leave the country b/c it’s cheaper. Cheap dental, go to Mexico.

Between jobs being outsourced and people that do come over here taking jobs for less (whether Mexican day laborers or nurses from the Philippines) it is getting more difficult to find jobs. (Please – again – I am not being prejudice here. Trying to make a point about Americans losing jobs – not targeting any countries – forgive the stereotypical nature)

I did not expect to meet so much opposition to attempting this for a month, particularly in light of the continuing job losses. But as I said earlier, I’m not much of a consumer, so this would not be a big sacrifice to me. With so many people touting patriotism during war, I was thinking this experiment was an easy no-brainer. Think of it as economic war. No one dies from this.

[jpinpb]

At the risk of sounding bad again, generally speaking only, China is not known for quality products. It’s known for cheap products (even their steel) and you get what you pay for.

As flu mentioned, seems a bigger problem is people’s desire for consumption, cheap consumption, that ends up discarded at a garage sale eventually.

If you sell your car in 5 years, sure, maybe it’s lost value. Hold it for 20. Wish I did that w/my Camaro. I’d have one heck of a downpayment on a house. (Never watch Mecum?)

I think we’ve come full circle again, though. The problem is that people don’t want to work for less money here, but people want to buy cheap. Buying cheap from Asia means someone potentially in the U.S.A. could be soon out a job.

So many jobs have been outsourced. Jobs that still seem plentiful are service-related jobs. They typically don’t pay very well. Unless you’re a doctor, which even then, selective surgeries, some people leave the country b/c it’s cheaper. Cheap dental, go to Mexico.

Between jobs being outsourced and people that do come over here taking jobs for less (whether Mexican day laborers or nurses from the Philippines) it is getting more difficult to find jobs. (Please – again – I am not being prejudice here. Trying to make a point about Americans losing jobs – not targeting any countries – forgive the stereotypical nature)

I did not expect to meet so much opposition to attempting this for a month, particularly in light of the continuing job losses. But as I said earlier, I’m not much of a consumer, so this would not be a big sacrifice to me. With so many people touting patriotism during war, I was thinking this experiment was an easy no-brainer. Think of it as economic war. No one dies from this.

[jpinpb]

At the risk of sounding bad again, generally speaking only, China is not known for quality products. It’s known for cheap products (even their steel) and you get what you pay for.

As flu mentioned, seems a bigger problem is people’s desire for consumption, cheap consumption, that ends up discarded at a garage sale eventually.

If you sell your car in 5 years, sure, maybe it’s lost value. Hold it for 20. Wish I did that w/my Camaro. I’d have one heck of a downpayment on a house. (Never watch Mecum?)

I think we’ve come full circle again, though. The problem is that people don’t want to work for less money here, but people want to buy cheap. Buying cheap from Asia means someone potentially in the U.S.A. could be soon out a job.

So many jobs have been outsourced. Jobs that still seem plentiful are service-related jobs. They typically don’t pay very well. Unless you’re a doctor, which even then, selective surgeries, some people leave the country b/c it’s cheaper. Cheap dental, go to Mexico.

Between jobs being outsourced and people that do come over here taking jobs for less (whether Mexican day laborers or nurses from the Philippines) it is getting more difficult to find jobs. (Please – again – I am not being prejudice here. Trying to make a point about Americans losing jobs – not targeting any countries – forgive the stereotypical nature)

I did not expect to meet so much opposition to attempting this for a month, particularly in light of the continuing job losses. But as I said earlier, I’m not much of a consumer, so this would not be a big sacrifice to me. With so many people touting patriotism during war, I was thinking this experiment was an easy no-brainer. Think of it as economic war. No one dies from this.

[Author]

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