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thats what happens in a global economy..those that do it the best and the cheapest are the winners. cheap without good doesn't do it, you need both.
all tariffs do is try to prop up un-competitive companies and stall the inevitable as well as cheating the consumer .Brazil had made an edict.if it wasn't made in that country it couldn't be used.
ibm had a factory there. they tried utilizing the Brazilian equipment but it was a disaster,the packed up and left Brazil,,, Brazil retracted the edict.
anyone remember when the USA levied a tariff on MEMORY chips to stop the foreign dumping of memory chips here?
what a great display of what happens when we artificially try to tilt things. we had such a chip shortage here that the price of memory went sky high. our manufacturers couldn't get enough chips to ship machines .. it was a disaster for the USA. it was dropped.
bottom line is i only buy foreign for one reason, it represents the best value for our money in that product... i dint buy because the emperor of japan promises to buy a water pump from me..
lets face it the USA is only a small part of the global economy and as such why shouldn't our imports blow away our exports,there is a big world out there.
there is plenty we do here the best and no one yet competes in those areas .
Americans tend to shift gears to new areas and new ideas and we are pretty resilient. Thur the loss of manufacturing and out sourceing still almost 90% of america is working in some field.
high trade deficit numbers can actually help us as consumers. think of the flat screen craze.
the first plasma flat screens ran 8,000 bucks.the more money that flowed into buying them the cheaper they got. today billions have gone into buying flat screens today and for not much money you can even buy one thats better then that 8,000 buck one and still stay under 2k. those billions effected the trade defecit numbers but so what, the savings to us was very real and measurable in our pockets.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Tariffs and trade should not be used to protect huge corporations, Governments, and to artificially keep prices high. However , things can be done to adjust the balance of trade. Like I said before , we DO need to start producing and exporting once again.
Fuel oil/diesel , has been kept high , to ad profits to big oil. Just one example... I go to CITCO diesel is 2.54 , I go to BP , its 2.84. prices are manipulated using tariffs/quotas and false patriotism. Chavaz gave the NE affordable fuel oil, what happened to that deal ?...
Using Barzil is a good example of a Country strugling with so much poverty, so much wealth , and a strugling middle class, thats been going on as long as I can remember. I think they are turning the tables now , look for Brazil to emerge with a more even middle class , like Canada.... The future belongs the the Countries that have natural mineral/ag. wealth. USA is no longer a leader, we could be again however with better trade deals, goods for grain...China has a lot of people to feed.
there are exceptions but basically if you aint a leader in it you aint makin it no more..... there are always products that america may make thats exceptional like tools, like farm equipment ,pharmaceuticles etc where the products are superior and the prices higher what wins is usually cheaper and better most of the time like elecronic stuff ,like cars were when countries excell at what they do and now everyone else has to try catch up or fail.
only place american companies still manufacture is in areas where other countries may be cheaper but not better......
there arent to many areas left that holds true.
The largest exporters are the ones making the more complicated and expensive equipment. Those are Germany the united states, & japan. China is an exception that exports a large amount of cheap crap, but they don't produce anything that requires any type of advanced technology.
china certainly does but that stuff is made under the watch of the manufacturers that contract them. as an example nikon makes their state of the art cameras there but they are done in nikon equipt factories and careful quality control.
China has a lot of people. As their economy continues to grow , they will be looking to make more and more products for internal consumption. It is possiable that China will be competing against itself in the future, as wages and infrastructure contribute to Inflation.
So the husband and I were talking about retirement and he is starting to believe that won't be a reality for him and I wonder for myself.
Here are our stats and if you have advice on improving things, feel free to jump in:
- We are both 32 years old
- I have had a 401K for about 10 years, the hubby has not opened one for several reasons (job didn't offer it or he made too little to contribute anything)
- I have only been able to contribute 5% and my balance grew to a high of $19k before the financial crisis in early 2008. It has not gotten back up to that amount since.
- I lost my job in Dec 2008 and have not been able to contribute to the 401k since. I have only had part-time and temp jobs in the interim (no benefits)
-Hubby also lost his job in 2008, took one year to find a temp job and just went permanent this past January.
- the hubby plans to open a 401k but won't be able to contribute much (he doesn't earn much and has little leftover after bills)
- I still don't have a permanent job and don't know any other way to add to my 401K or any other retirement plan and as it stands only have about $17,000 in my current 401k. I also don't know much about stocks.
Are we just screwed and will never retire? Any other options or advice?
............my honest answer you can join us if you want some help, this company have some good option how to work out our burden in financial matter .......better to contact me at my email add: marlongrace0908@gmail.com
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