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I cast my vote for the radical environmentalist and excessive taxation on business owners. I lived in so Ca and hated the smog, most of which came from smog belching autos and the fact that it sits in a freaking bowl and the indian inhabitants called it Smoke Valley 100's of years ago. The radicals shut down Kaiser Steel and too many 60 year olds found themselves without any retirement or income. The smog remained the same for years and years. I credit some of the environmental restrictions for some but not much good, but have you noticed that the smog in Ontario and L.A is still horrible during the summer? Our west coast ocean is ripe with bacteria from the sewer sludge so you can't surf or swim without risk to your health. So where was the benifit besides the loss of jobs for those who have minimal skills?
And "leveling out" generally means the high peaks have to be lowered as well as the low valleys rising up. Trying to protect that high standard of living for just one country doesn't seem a sensible response to the issue of globalization, IMO. It's like fighting the tide.
Like when government tries to save an industry by creating a tariff on imports. I remember a story about the steel industry succesfully lobbying Washington to slap a tariff on imported steel. This made steel prices in America higher, which drove out American businesses, like this one company that made steel buttons, hair clips and belt buckles. They were driven out of business because foreign competitors had cheaper steel, and cheaper labor, and the American companies could no longer compete.
A sure way to kill more jobs in America is to raise taxes, and create new broader regulations, and mandates, like we see in that awful cap & trade bill.
A case in point, Walmart approaches Whammo (frisbee manufacturer) and says we want to sell 500,000of your frisbees. Great, not.
The price point must be under $8.00. Can't produce them here for under $9.00 sooo, they get manufactured in China or you loose the contract. RP
Originally Posted by yachtcare I agree, but it is greedy labor unions that bear the blame for the lion's share of this.
Not true. Plenty of non-unionized businesses have gone overseas. It's all about low wages. American workers can't compete with workers getting $3 to 5 dollars an hour, or less. Do you want to work for that and live 8 people in a two room apartment? They did a story on Haiti's textile business last night on CNN and those people were getting paid $3 to $4 adayto make t-shirts for well known brands.
I would agree that the cheap labor in places like China and India is the biggest driving force, and unless we want to see wages drop by 1000% we will keep losing jobs. But, the never ending parade of new government regulations and mandates is playing a large part in this too.
China's average wage is NOT 1000 times less than the average wage in the US. You need to drop the silly exageration and get back to reality. In 2008 the average wage in Bejing for example was 44,715 yuan - or $6548. This is roughly 1/7 the average US year wage of $41,334.97 for that same year.
beijing workers’ average annual wage income | china financial daily (http://www.chinafinancialdaily.com/financial/news/2009/03/25/5000/beijing-workers-average-annual-wage-income-is-44715-yuan-financial-industry-ranks-the-top-one.html - broken link)
i don't see how we can have "free trade" when some countries treat their workers like slaves, and the government purposely devalues their currency and pollute their land air and water to drive down the costs of their goods.
These are the reason WHY we have those regulations folks on the Right like to belittle so much - so that we DON'T treat our workers like virtual slaves and so that we DON'T pollute our land, air and water.
Corporate Greed. Honest answer, it started with the Clinton administration and grew from there. Doubt we would have a President with the B.lls to force these corporations to bring the jobs back.
I agree with you generally speaking, but the wrong turn toward where we are today was made early in the Reagan administration.
It was Reagan that set the tone and gave the wink and nod to union busting by firing the Air Traffic Controllers in 1981. Big business finally had their man in the White House and they took the ball and ran with it. By the end of his second term, those of us in middle class who were paying attention knew we'd been had.
Corporate Greed. Honest answer, it started with the Clinton administration and grew from there. Doubt we would have a President with the B.lls to force these corporations to bring the jobs back.
You now want government to force production? Hello socialism.
Look, greed had little to do with it. It is in any companies best interest to reduce overhead. Nobody goes into a for profit enterprise with intention of providing a product at the lowest possible profit to keep the company open. That isn't, nor should why expect or try, for business to be operated that way. Motivation for profit is not necessarily a bad thing and alot of innovation and development can be attributed to simple desire to grow wealth.
The reason why many corporations moved their manufacturing out of the US is simple. We regulated and taxed them to the point that they were unable to keep their products competitive on the market. End of story.
With production taking place around the globe with overhead and operating costs at pennies on the dollar to american manufacturing, how can you expect that the cost of the american made products can stay competitive?
It is in our governments interest to ensure that Americans and their endeavors are producted from outside enemies. Under cutting our manufacturing by paying employees 12 cents a day in horrible conditions is a direct attack on our private manufacturing. It should have been out governments responsibility to ensure that products coming into the country were taxed and tarriffed to ensure that american manufacturing would have stayed competititve. Instead, they just placed more regulations and more taxes on them.
Rather than forcing a company to keep production here, expecting them to sacrifice profit, rather than fixing the problem is just plain illogical.
Ultimately, it's globalization. We've had a global economy for thousands of years, but not to the extent to which it exists today. Not that I think globalization is bad, far from it actually. It's having some negative effects here and elsewhere, but overall and in the long run, I think it's going to help us more than hurt us.
Watch the PBS documentary Commanding Heights for a long hard look at globalization.
I agree with a previous poster who said it was corporate greed. Has anyone seen "Roger and Me?" When GM started closing down plants in Flint, it was recording record profits.
As more companies see that they can pay workers in other countries for cheaper wages, they will probably move production or work there.
You can find people in India who want to do call center jobs for $5 a day vs here where some call center jobs are 8-10 an hour. They don't have to give the Indians health insurance, paid sick days or any of that.
It all boils down to greed. Instead of be happy with $75-100 million in profits, they'd rather have 2-10x that, if not more.
Since when are companies in business for the purpose of "feel good" policies? Utopian pipe dream. Companies are in business to make money, plain and simple. An expectation that they have some higher calling beyond that is just ridiculous.
So then the American consumer can pay more for goods?
Of course - we wouldn't want to suggest any subversive alternative like corporate elites living on a mere million a year.
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