The Dirty Secret of NAFTA.... (wages, Alabama, companies, cost)

[okcthunder1945]

...is the South and Non Union states became the majority recipients of domestic and foreign capital to build or upgrade manufacturing production the following years.

[craigiri]

It would be nice if you would explain even a bit of what you are talking about.

What you mention was happening well before and after NAFTA for various reasons. Land is available, vast tax breaks are given, workers are cheap and will work with fewer benefits than in Europe (and even in many part of China!)....and, probably most importantly, people in these places didn't have decent jobs.

Please explain further. Is there some cause and effect? Factories in the USA have been moving South for 100+ years or more for cheaper labor and other reasons.

Remember, the North and Mid-Atlantic were industrialized (fully) by the early 1800's. The South was a backwater until perhaps 80+ years later. Then came A/C and the eradication of hookworm and that was that.

[architech100]

Originally Posted by craigiri

It would be nice if you would explain even a bit of what you are talking about.

What you mention was happening well before and after NAFTA for various reasons. Land is available, vast tax breaks are given, workers are cheap and will work with fewer benefits than in Europe (and even in many part of China!)....and, probably most importantly, people in these places didn't have decent jobs.

Please explain further. Is there some cause and effect? Factories in the USA have been moving South for 100+ years or more for cheaper labor and other reasons.

Remember, the North and Mid-Atlantic were industrialized (fully) by the early 1800's. The South was a backwater until perhaps 80+ years later. Then came A/C and the eradication of hookworm and that was that.

Nonsense . The Mercedes plant in Alabama has the highest wages and best benefits of any auto plant in the united states, $65 an hour on average. Honda,Toyota, Nissan in the $40-50 an hour range,Volvo in south carolina is around $40, Bmw in south carolina and Volkswagen in Tenn. is around $38-40 an hour .These companies are also moving headquarters to where most of the country has been moving. True with aerospace as well

Mercedes plant has highest per-hour labor cost in U.S.; VW and BMW pay least

Mercedes and Porsche moved headquarters to Atlanta because its where so many of there cars are shipped out of and hartsfield is the busiest airport in the world, toyota moved to texas also becaus epeople can afford to buy a house. If I were an exec I would want to move somewhere warm and where the country is moving, its 74 in austin and its snowing up in the northeast and its damn springtime