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When speaking of the big three, many of their previous problems were directly related to various decisions made by the upper level management. GM for example was always one of the last to retool, meaning production methods were always lagging behind. Because of this, their costs of production were high, yet their quality left much to be desired. Today, the big three are much more efficient, and quality has improved greatly. This wasn't due to upper level management doing such a wonderful job. 2 of the big three automakers were bailed out and given a large sum of money to bring their plants back up to speed. They were also forced out of necessity to adapt. Many of the new production methods also directly lead to better quality because of the consistency of the processes. Robots don't get tired, they don't develop repetitive motion injuries, and they always function as programmed. At any rate, management had no role in bringing this technology to fruition, yet they will undoubtedly receive/take the bulk of the credit.
How do you explain the demise of the older American auto makers - AMC, Nash, Studebaker, Packard, Willys, Duesenberg...? These companies fell by the wayside during the "good old days" of high wages and a strong economy.
I agree and most likely things were built better back in the day. In regards to technology though they were much more expensive. TVs for example used to cost much more back in the days.
Also this throwaway mentality is nothing new, as many consumer good companies used this as a strategy going back to the 1950s .
From: Apple's New iPads and Planned Obsolescence in Devices - NYTimes.com
“planned obsolescence,” which was popularized in the 1950s by Brooks Stevens, an industrial designer who specialized in making new cars. Briskly adopted by postwar consumer goods industries, the strategy coaxed Americans to sell their 1955 Cadillacs for the 1956 Cadillacs with their pronounced tail fins, and then the 1957s with even more exaggerated fins, and then ’58s, ’59s and so on.
This also illustrates how strong the middle class would of been back in the 1950s that people would of been getting new cars every year.
I watched a National Geographic program on Easter Island just prior to watching this (which made me think of the book Collapse by Jared Diamond), and I found myself thinking, the human species is always going to be a work in progress. There have been many well-functioning societies over the years that eventually fell apart completely due to various factors.
Its certainly possible for that type of thing to happen again.
I think that many people forget what a huge role WWII played in creating the type of economy we had in the US for the next 50+ years that followed. We are now moving into a very different phase, and its anyone guess how it will all shake down in the future.
How do you explain the demise of the older American auto makers - AMC, Nash, Studebaker, Packard, Willys, Duesenberg...? These companies fell by the wayside during the "good old days" of high wages and a strong economy.
They were long before my time so I have little to contribute.
Suburbia is still growing. It is the cities that failed to keep residents and watched them pack up and move to suburbia.
Both cities and suburbs are still growing, its just the shift of socioeconomic and demographics that are changing in both cities and suburbs which picked up pace during the great recession. Plenty of Asians, Hispanics and Blacks are moving to suburbs which offer better life than cities. In return mostly educated white 20 somethings are moving from the suburbs to big cities like NYC, Boston, SF, Chicago, DC and are moving to innercity neighborhoods to pay high rents to live in a closet apartment while paying off their tuition fees while seeking out that 6 figure salary to live the yuppie dream and not the American dream. Cities are still loosing their middle class and with it a solid tax base, whos going to flip the bill, working class poor, wannabe 1 percent yuppie, or the uber rich? Suburbs saw poverty grow as well as a decline in services. Either way things dont look great for America's future regardless where one lives.
And resiliency as usual didn't help them any. They all ended up as human whack-a-moles. As soon as they tried to stick their heads up -- BLAM!!! This is their lot in life. To be chewed up and spat out. This is America.
I have to agree with your sentiment here. The much prided and lauded traits of resiliency and "hard work=eventual gains" seems only to keep those earning lower class wages from checking out* of their existence of virtually meaningless existence and endless toil.
*Choose your escape: permanent welfare, drugs/alcohol, suicide, et cetera.
RAM: You state why don't they move down to Chicago to get jobs... I live in the Chicago area, during this time period, there were NO jobs in Chicago either. I know, I was unemployed mid 2008 til late 2008 only getting a job after applying to 275 positions during that time.
In fact, IL historically has one of the highest unemployment rates (still) in the country. I know lots of chronically unemployed and underemployed workers here. Since the crash of 2008 things never really got back to normal here for sure, partially due to our political environment and infighting in this state. They are all worried about politics rather than creating a friendly environment for business to operate (this goes on for national level as well with all the emphasis on smokescreen non-issues)
Last edited by gardener34; 07-14-2013 at 07:10 AM..
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