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Outsourcing does have some blame, but not all. The way it should ideally work is when you have a dearth of labor here for your given product or the costs here become too high while the quality of the product is diminished, you go overseas. This would be ideal for car manufacturers, in fact. It's too expensive here. Labor unions choke the companies expansion. Companies like Toyota and Honda build BETTER cars that cost less and they still make a profit. Germans also build great cars catered to high end users in America.
You have some industries, though, that probably could do it better here with less labor (and thus labor cost) that outsource.
Toyota and Honda subrogate their US labor cost to YOU, which is why they can keep their cost down. At-will employment and no benefits is great for them, not so great for you when you have to subsidize the cost of americans' underemployment. They don't pass their savings to you in cheaper cars, and yet they make you feel good about subsidizing their labor cost, since most anti-union people are thick to the idea that millions of taco bell paycheck jobs is not good just because it puts a million people in the "employed" column. Being employed-in-name-only, at-will at that, is inherently valueless.
Furthermore, back home, these companies have further subsidies of their labor cost in the form of universal health care et al, which american companies don't have. So spare me the anti-union jab, start comparing apples to apples before you argue the alleged comparative advantage of foreign car makers.
Toyota and Honda subrogate their US labor cost to YOU, which is why they can keep their cost down. At-will employment and no benefits is great for them....
My understanding is that US employees of Toyota and Honda have a full slate of benefits....just not the crazy stuff like "jobs banks".
Toyota and Honda subrogate their US labor cost to YOU, which is why they can keep their cost down. At-will employment and no benefits is great for them, not so great for you when you have to subsidize the cost of americans' underemployment. They don't pass their savings to you in cheaper cars, and yet they make you feel good about subsidizing their labor cost, since most anti-union people are thick to the idea that millions of taco bell paycheck jobs is not good just because it puts a million people in the "employed" column. Being employed-in-name-only, at-will at that, is inherently valueless.
Furthermore, back home, these companies have further subsidies of their labor cost in the form of universal health care et al, which american companies don't have. So spare me the anti-union jab, start comparing apples to apples before you argue the alleged comparative advantage of foreign car makers.
Yes, because all other companies in America are producing crappy product that ends up costing MORE than they can sell it for. Because all other companies have been churning crap for the past 10 years with the SAME constraints. Because Google, a non-unionized company, is abusing their employs and firing them for no reason whatsoever. And, what about all those folks in those right-to-work states? Gee, that lower cost of living must suck. You know, like in... Atlanta, maybe? Yep, there really at the bottom for income at #7 because everyone's a wage slave and nobody's in a union. Also, everyone is living in tenement housing because no one can afford a home there.
Unlike in union friendly Los Angeles where housing is cheap and everyone is GAINFULLY employed. Yep, no problems in the greater LA area. We know that San Fran doesn't have any homeless problems because they have a high income, so EVERYONE can afford housing. Or union friendly Detroit, which we KNOW everyone there is employed. Or those other midwestern cities, like Cincinnati and Cleveland. Everyone's staying in those rust-best states because they're happy... they're in a union. They aren't leaving en masse like they say on the news, that's just a conspiracy.
We all know that unions ALWAYS work for the good of their employees and for their employers and customers. That's why the workers at the big 3 all get paid the same and their wages haven't really gone up much, or that NYC public schools has several dangerous and/or incompetent employees that get paid for doing nothing because they can't be fired due to union regulations.
Inflation in prices of all goods. Since the cost of labor went down, so did the cost of spoons relative to inflation. (you spent $3 when it was made here years ago, and you spend $3 now when prices for all goods have gone up, so relatively you're paying less).
Being a designer in the automotive industry, I've see a huge amount of outsourcing, but I haven't seen the prices of auto's drop since all these companies started doing it. It's all about corporate greed. How can we squeeze more of a profit out of our product and sell it for the same price?
My understanding is that US employees of Toyota and Honda have a full slate of benefits....just not the crazy stuff like "jobs banks".
Actually Toyota does have a form of a "job bank".. when a plant closes for retooling they find things to keep the workers busy, so knowone get's laid off.
Unless we collectively decide to return to agriculture-based economy in which growing and trading of food is the only economic activity, then nobody can get away from a collapse of world economic system.
Get real. There is no clear-cut negative situation which will mysteriously arise if offshore outsourcing is discouraged economically by the Federal, State, and Local Governments.
Use your head... there was life and US prosperity before the offshore outsourcing of US middle-class jobs... there also was life and US prosperity before the offshore outsourcing of US manufacturing jobs.
Look, I'll fully admit that if I had been a c-level executive of a global company in the 80s or 90s I might have also tried offshore outsourcing of particular job functions within my company, just to see how it went. The reality is that we know how it goes now... and on a large scale it just creates a big sucking sound of jobs from onshore to offshore. It hurts our fellow US citizens. It hurts our towns, cities, states, and our country as a whole. I say, alright, it was a neat thing to try... but now since we know it's negative effects, let's discourage it so that our country can heal.
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Look, I'll fully admit that if I had been a c-level executive of a global company in the 80s or 90s I might have also tried offshore outsourcing of particular job functions within my company, just to see how it went. The reality is that we know how it goes now... and on a large scale it just creates a big sucking sound of jobs from onshore to offshore. It hurts our fellow US citizens. It hurts our towns, cities, states, and our country as a whole. I say, alright, it was a neat thing to try... but now since we know it's negative effects, let's discourage it so that our country can heal.[/quote]
Okay, so how do we do this? We as a whole country needto stand up to this! Who can we contact to really be heard?? Its time the USA takes care of the USA. We need to stop worrying about all the other countries and their problems and take care of our own first. Did anyone see Diane Sawyer's special onthe children of Apalachia?? We have starving people in our own country and we worry about everyone else. We need to stop being a noseycountry and screw everyone else and start taking careof our own. It sounds cruel but maybe if we mind our beeswax and start taking care of our own-we can become that great country again. Legalize the illegals that are here, make them paytaxes, close our borders, cut corporate taxes or whatever needs to be done to get those jobs back here! Enough is enough!
As the article describes - the bill is light on details regarding how it will tax the multinationals to reduce outsourcing. That could be for any number of reasons. Nonetheless, the article describes how the intentions are definitely a step in the right direction. For me this is thus awesome news.
As the article describes - the bill is light on details regarding how it will tax the multinationals to reduce outsourcing. That could be for any number of reasons. Nonetheless, the article describes how the intentions are definitely a step in the right direction. For me this is thus awesome news.
I think one of the loopholes for multi-nationals is that the profits they earn offshore are tax differed until they get repatriated into the United States.
I think what that means is that they don't have to pay taxes on offshore earnings until they bring the money back into the States. So if they make money from an offshore subsidery (even for sales directed toward the US), essentially that money is tax free. If they never bring that money back onshore... they don't have to pay any US taxes - therefore encouraging further investment offshore.
I believe this tax loophole is going to be taken out so that multi-nationals have to pay taxes on all earnings on or offshore. At least that's what I got as one of the major loopholes multi-nationals have received.
Yes, it is good news.
-chuck22b
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