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Truth is the same 40+ percent with no savings will not pay more for the same products. In a way we subsidize our low wages with low cost crap from China because no one can afford to buy all American at 8-9 bucks an hour. At least at a quantity that would sustain the current spending in our economy.
Just to play devils advocate here, many gains from the 90’s to now were made in stocks through the sell of junk from China, we retire off the profits from the purchase of cheap crap through our 401k gains. If you have money in Amazon and Wal-Mart Then your cutting your nose off by complaining about cheap China stuff.
I pay more for American products. I also understand that most people don't have extra cash laying around when they spend their entire paychecks on all that Chinese crap they're buying (Apple iPhones are what now? 1500 plus 180 per month?) and everyone has to go through their disposable wardrobes every 6 months or so.
When Sam Walton's kids sold out to China, they essentially made America slaves to their products, which enriched the Walton family like none other, but to the detriment to American manufacturing, small businesses, jobs, and basically ruined America.
My mom and dad both owned businesses back in the 1990's in America. Both were operating in a small town, servicing a small client base. Mom owned a Christian book store and dad an office supply company.
Mom shut down first when Walmart decided to start carrying Christian books on it's shelves. Dad's business went second when they added the office supply aisle.
Sam Walton is probably turning in his grave as to what the Walmart corporation looks like today..
I buy the best product for the money, regardless of country of manufacturer.
that means china for phones and electronics, germany/usa/japan for tools, japan for electronics and cars (next car might be a USA made tesla though).
my duty is to God and family first and country second, and my financial goals must align in that manner.
Walmart wouldn't be in the position it is in today if weren't for outsourcing to the lowest bidder. how do you think amazon rose to the top? because of price and convenience.
if it weren't walmart or amazon, it would be someone else.
if it's not china, it would be some other country with cheap labor, or automation as we're seeing robotics do a lot of the manufacturing now.
What people say they will do and what they actually will do are two completely different things.
Finding U.S.-made goods becomes harder and harder as more companies offshore production.
There are some great options out there - you can equip your kitchen with All-Clad, Fiesta, Cutco, NordicWare and Lodge - but they're much more expensive than their foreign-made counterparts. The differential between an All-Clad saucepan and a foreign made saucepan is considerable. All-Clad is a once in a lifetime purchase, but most people don't think like that anymore.
Flip a plate in at least half of the restaurants in the U.S. and you'll find backstamps of either Homer Laughlin China Co. or Hall China Co. In March, the company reorganized, selling its food service lines and both the Homer Laughlin name and the Hall China Co. name to Steelite International, a British firm. The products may or may not still be made in the U.S., but they will no longer be made in West Virginia or Ohio. The new company is making only Fiesta, has laid off production staff, and closed the historic Hall China plant in East Liverpool.
I would too, but to be fair, a lot of Americans "say" things without knowing what they are really saying.
Much of America, and specifically much of the Trump base are living check to check, with very little extra money to get by. A lot of us would "like" to pay more for Chinese goods, but the fact is that when push comes to shove, if it comes down to "feed my family" vs "buy American", I am not going to let anyone in my family starve, and I don't think you would either. Yes, we could trim a lot of fat before it comes to that point, but surely you would agree that in our recent history, Americans have not shown a pattern of passing on the Nike's and Apple Products and nicer cars so that they can "afford" to pay 2x-3x for their other consumable goods to be made by Americans.
I honestly think that we are in a place, as a country, where it would be very difficult to cut off our cheap imports. As a free-market economist, I also don't think it's the best idea either. But some things, I absolutely try to buy American, and other things, I'm OK with not, knowing that American's can't produce some things competitively as long as we are at or near full employment like we've been for most of the last decade, the last few months not withstanding.
What people say they will do and what they actually will do are two completely different things.
Finding U.S.-made goods becomes harder and harder as more companies offshore production.
There are some great options out there - you can equip your kitchen with All-Clad, Fiesta, Cutco, NordicWare and Lodge - but they're much more expensive than their foreign-made counterparts. The differential between an All-Clad saucepan and a foreign made saucepan is considerable. All-Clad is a once in a lifetime purchase, but most people don't think like that anymore.
Flip a plate in at least half of the restaurants in the U.S. and you'll find backstamps of either Homer Laughlin China Co. or Hall China Co. In March, the company reorganized, selling its food service lines and both the Homer Laughlin name and the Hall China Co. name to Steelite International, a British firm. The products may or may not still be made in the U.S., but they will no longer be made in West Virginia or Ohio. The new company is making only Fiesta, has laid off production staff, and closed the historic Hall China plant in East Liverpool.
All-Clad is nice for sure, but is it 5x as nice as a comparable tri-ply tramontina that gets you 80% of the way there?
fact is, most americans can't afford $500+ for a cookware set and when you see a quality set for $150, it becomes a lot easier to buy the china made set (some tramontinas are brazilian made).
The same Americans who on average have less than $500 in savings and can't pay rent one month after being laid off? Yes, I totally believe they are going to pay more for the every day stuff they use.
The same Americans that on average have less than $500 in savings and can't pay rent one month after being laid off? Yes, I totally believe they are going to pay more for the every day stuff they use.
Also there is a reason people stopped buying American, it was junk most of the time. Nothing like a Pot metal can opener that bends before you even open a single can of soup (gotta love the 80’s). So even if American start buying more USA made goods, how do you keep the quality up in our “make it cheaper and pocket the profits” corporate world we live in.
The bean counters always come to cut and collect at some point, unless American companies change theIr business model.
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