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Oil is not a limitless asset. We need to eventually have better public transportation, nationwide and switch to other methods of fueling private vehicles.
I picked one example.
I'm a Boomer and I bought my first car, a small import, prior to the oil embargo. My father called me a fool for buying the car that I bought. He had to eat his words when the embargo started.
Nothing about the demise of places in the rust belt goes for all places. It also can't be boiled down to politics. There was nothing political about bad management in the car industry.
But its political when the government negotiates unfair trade agreements with other countries for geopolitical purposes. For example the government felt it was in the world's interests to have a rebuilt Japan (and others) friendly to the U.S. especially in the context of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and Communist China. This was the motivation behind unfair trade deals that allowed Japanese automakers to flood the United States with their products, knowing this will hurt American workers in the Rust Belt especially Detroit.
The spirit of the TPP and NAFTA was to redistribute American wealth and in the case of the TPP to prevent Southeast Asian countries from becoming part of China's sphere of influence and trading with China instead. Again our government was willing to sacrifice American manufacturing and the Rust Belt would have borne the brunt of this. So regardless of corporate policies, outsourcing happens because our government allows it to through unfair trade agreements where America is the weaker party.
Obama and Bill Clinton (when he signed NAFTA) believed in the redistribution of wealth internationally and an America that was more "generous" and globalist vs taking care of our national interests like with President Trump. Same with how Obama was willing to sacrifice West Virginia and the rest of Appalachia in the War on Coal for the sake of internationalism and agreements like the Paris accord which I'm glad Trump pulled us out of.
I don't see how we have benefited from trade with China and Mexico except some cheaper consumer goods, most of which are poorly made. I think the entire Rust Belt was sacrificed for geopolitical reasons.
CEOs mostly make incentive compensation based on maximizing shareholder value. Their base pay is far smaller than the incentives, which are tied to contractual goals.
Most of those are shortsighted decisions for short-term profits.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70
But its political when the government negotiates unfair trade agreements with other countries for geopolitical purposes. For example the government felt it was in the world's interests to have a rebuilt Japan (and others) friendly to the U.S. especially in the context of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and Communist China. This was the motivation behind unfair trade deals that allowed Japanese automakers to flood the United States with their products, knowing this will hurt American workers in the Rust Belt especially Detroit.
The spirit of the TPP and NAFTA was to redistribute American wealth and in the case of the TPP to prevent Southeast Asian countries from becoming part of China's sphere of influence and trading with China instead. Again our government was willing to sacrifice American manufacturing and the Rust Belt would have borne the brunt of this. So regardless of corporate policies, outsourcing happens because our government allows it to through unfair trade agreements where America is the weaker party.
Obama and Bill Clinton (when he signed NAFTA) believed in the redistribution of wealth internationally and an America that was more "generous" and globalist vs taking care of our national interests like with President Trump. Same with how Obama was willing to sacrifice West Virginia and the rest of Appalachia in the War on Coal for the sake of internationalism and agreements like the Paris accord which I'm glad Trump pulled us out of.
I don't see how we have benefited from trade with China and Mexico except some cheaper consumer goods, most of which are poorly made. I think the entire Rust Belt was sacrificed for geopolitical reasons.
Your theory gives me a headache. The car debacle was self inflicted by incompetent nincompoops running the companies. That's different from the steel mills closing in Pittsburgh, and the furniture factories closing in Grand Rapids.
Nothing to do with corporate greed. Nah...that played no part. Paying people good wages that boosted the tax base of an entire region is what ruined EVERYTHING. SMH
LMAO...the black population? In the Deep South, there’s a helluva lot of entrenched poverty in the white population too. And they’ve lived in it for generations and it’s all they know too.
And I damn sure can’t figure out what poor southern black people have to do with Rust Belt decline. But as usual, you just HAD to throw that in, huh?
the topic is the rust belt, not the deep south
didn't take long for you to make this racist rant, but considering who you are; not a bit surprised.
failure of the Rust Belt has a lot to do with the UAW so I voted the unions were too demanding.
For decades, management in the automotive industry refused to make decent small cars. That meant that Boomers bought small imports and then graduated to larger imports. It was very simple. It was gross mismanagement in that sector. Each sector had its own reason. Trying to make it political is grossly wrong.
Bingo.
Detroit lost out to better products.
For years, we only bought American cars. With the exception of one memorable Chevy Suburban, they all required constant repairs and fell apart at about 80,000 miles.
We had a Chevy Super Sport that blew valve springs about once a week. A Dodge sedan that we should have set fire to. ...
Then we bought a Subaru. It could out climb a Jeep on snowy roads. Everyone wanted to go sledding with our family. We drove it until it rusted out. I bet it's still running, hauling dog food for some musher.
We now drive Toyotas.
I wouldn't go back to Fix Or Repair Daily for love nor money.
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