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Compared to where manufacturing is going to it is. I am talking about countries like India where all the IT is heading to. US definitely has much higher cost of living than these places.
In India an IT worker can live like a king on $25K (USD) and have servants even.
Try that here on $25K with a college degree.
There's more than just COLA. There's SS and unemployment, pensions, 401K's, vacation pay, disability pay and all those other hidden costs that a company needs to contribute to.
Compared to where manufacturing is going to it is. I am talking about countries like India where all the IT is heading to. US definitely has much higher cost of living than these places.
Not really. Try to live in the U.S. like you live in India - with a big screen TV, 2200 square foot house, central heating and A/C, and 3 cars including an SUV, daily $5 cups of starbucks, and yeah it gets just as expensive as the U.S.
The common US citizen won't live 12 people in a 1,000 sq foot un-airconditioned concrete 3 room apartment on a diet of rice and curds and watching rooster racing for entertainment, an a vespa scooter as your main means of transportation.
Now that being said - anything required LABOR is cheaper in 3rd world countries, for obvious reasons. Those luxuries - the fancy automobiles and electronics, are probably if anything more expensive. The conveniences - the ability to go out for ice cream at any time of the day, the ability to buy any book from the local bookstore, the ability to go to a grocery store and have any type of food from the world - are non-existent.
Up until the current economic collapse most large companies were experiencing record profits. Especially the ones that are using cheap foreign labor. This allowed them to pay out insane bonuses to a few at the top and using the rest of the profits to gobble up their competition. What this has done is create unbelievable wealth at the top at the expense of the middle class that they relied on to buy their products.
Now that these companies have nearly eliminated the very economic class that were their best customers they have cut their own throats.
If these companies had kept the manufacturing plants in the US and kept paying a living wage to their workers instead of just creating a few billionaires at the top they wouldn’t be in this mess.
Now some thing we should lower our standard of living in the US in order to compete with 3rd world economies. Unbelievable.
Now some think we should lower our standard of living in the US in order to compete with 3rd world economies. Unbelievable.
Actually quite believable, and even probable, though it is only one of several possible outcomes.
Another believable possibility is, or at least would have been, to spend those massive resources US residents dissipated on reckless consumption on productive investment instead. You know, there are frugal ways to even advance one's education and technical skills - yes I believe it is possible to manufacture everything from shoes and socks to alternative energy infrastructure and comparably competitive ways - but too many US residents, egged on by their ruling class, chose to do otherwise.
I don't really think Americans have that high of a COL. In most all of the Industrialized/Western nations, COL and wages are higher than they are here.
Furthermore, in some Countries, like Japan and Germany, Manufacturing still makes up close to a third of economic activity in spite of labor laws and high costs of living.
Perhaps there is quite a bit of Americans living beyond their means, but there is also the manipulation of wages and currency that has caused the developing nations to not increase their costs of living and the availability of cheap credit to US consumers.
Japan was a major perceived "threat" to the US because they provided Americans with cheap goods in the 70s... but as they grew, wages, and their own markets grew and eventually both the US and Japan became mutual economic partners.
The natural course of fair trade would have the developing nations increase their standard of living therefore causing their "cost" benefit to shrink over time. Consequentially, the totalitarian governments are able to maintain low wages while manipulating currency and exchange by buying up treasuries or channeling US funds back towards the US - providing "cheap" financing.
Anyhow, being the owners of production isn't necessarily the be all end all. The export/production oriented countries are equally affected by low demand for products. If production capacities are being reduced here during a slow down... whole Factories, districts, and regions are closing elsewhere abroad.
At the end of the day, a more balanced economy of both consumption and production is what is most sustainable... and a service based economy with intellectual capital isn't all that bad if productivity and efficiency is still growing (our technology and entertainment industries are major exports). At the end, it's productivity and innovation and how we can all increase our standard of living both domestically and abroad... not who can race to the bottom the fastest.
"won't live 12 people in a 1,000 sq foot " um yeah, that is called a fire hazard here.... but this is what is going to happen if we don't stop giving the jobs away. The H1B policy is being SO abused it is not even funny. A new plan must eliminate the loopholes that are exploited.
I agree with the balanced economy policy. I knew 10 years ago that the madness of 30% real estate profits in one year could NOT sustain. So instead of rolling ourselves into a larger home every 3 years, we stayed in our modest home and are due to pay it off very soon.
I suffered a layoff and after long period of unemployment and sporadic employment (over a year) I got a job that paid $15,000 less than I was making in 2002. I finally got to the same salary level 5 years later, got laid off again. LUckily this time I did not suffer a salary loss. BUT the fact remains, my salary is the same as it was in 2002. Spouse's corp. froze salaries 3 years out of 6. Now they have frozen the pensions permanently and have eliminated 401K matching and again frozen salaries. We drive our cars til they won't drive anymore and get most major purchases from ebay at 1/3 of the cost of what most people pay... dentist/medical bills, insurance, fuel costs, and taxes take most of it. I dare say we are like most americans... NOT extravagant and living on credit. But not saving much either.
"won't live 12 people in a 1,000 sq foot " um yeah, that is called a fire hazard here.... but this is what is going to happen if we don't stop giving the jobs away. The H1B policy is being SO abused it is not even funny. A new plan must eliminate the loopholes that are exploited.
I agree with the balanced economy policy. I knew 10 years ago that the madness of 30% real estate profits in one year could NOT sustain. So instead of rolling ourselves into a larger home every 3 years, we stayed in our modest home and are due to pay it off very soon.
I suffered a layoff and after long period of unemployment and sporadic employment (over a year) I got a job that paid $15,000 less than I was making in 2002. I finally got to the same salary level 5 years later, got laid off again. LUckily this time I did not suffer a salary loss. BUT the fact remains, my salary is the same as it was in 2002. Spouse's corp. froze salaries 3 years out of 6. Now they have frozen the pensions permanently and have eliminated 401K matching and again frozen salaries. We drive our cars til they won't drive anymore and get most major purchases from ebay at 1/3 of the cost of what most people pay... dentist/medical bills, insurance, fuel costs, and taxes take most of it. I dare say we are like most americans... NOT extravagant and living on credit. But not saving much either.
Your not alone. In fact you are one of the millions of Americans that have had their wages either cut or the lucky ones they are same as they were in 2000.
What we are seeing is the result of all the money going to a few at the top and the rest are struggling to survive.
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