At the risk of turning this into a policitical shout fest. I want to voice my thoughts on all this overseas manufacturing.
It has been said by many, (Fred, I aint just pointing at your statements) that American workers priced themselfs out of a job. Also it has been said that corporate want a bigger piece of the pie. I dont really agree with those types of statements. First and foremost, one must look at who is really getting that big piece of the Pie. The US has the largest corporate tax rate of any other country. 40% of all profits goes to the Government. Now thats a pretty big piece of the pie. Add to that all the EPA restriction on building new Manufactureing facilities. it isnt any wonder that companies choose to go overseas to other countries with less restrictions and lower tax rates. I know if I was starting a new business, I would try to figure out a way to reduce my cost. If you care to do the research, you will also find that the countries with the lowest corporate taxe rates also have some of the fastest growing economies with more manufacturing companies locating there. A little more research will reveal that wages are also going up in those countries. China would be one good example, even with billions of people available.
People also think cheap labor is why companies look overseas. While it is true that people in China work for pennies on the hour as compared to American workers. Wages arenot everything. Once that product is produced, it still has to make it to America before it can be sold. Freight is as big a cost as labor on many products. Order something on line and have it shipped to your house and then add the cost of freight to the final cost of your purchase. On little items, the freight can sometimes be as much as the cost of the product. If that product was built overseas, you have the hidden cost of freight , just getting it to the US, already hidden in the purchase price of the product. Companies dont really save much on labor when they choose to build overseas. What they do save on is taxes and regulations.
Corporations are not people. Corporations are owned by people, usually in the form as a stock holder. Corporations are not greedy, Stockholders are very greedy. Every business needs to make a profit. The more profit they make, the more taxes they pay, to maintain a profit margin, they must raise prices. With high prices, you have to have high wages, or there will be nobody to buy your product. People choose where and how they spend their money and everybody has their own reasons for doing so. As long as people choose to spend their money on Foreign made products, those foreign companies will flurish and American companies will continue to look for Foreign sources for the raw materials to build their products, its the only way they can keep prices low enough that the American consumer can buy them.
Sveral years ago, I was working in Doraville Ga. Generl Motors used to have a large Assembly plant there. at the time, GM had laid off a large part of their workforce because they couldnt compete with some of the foreign car companies. I saw a guy driving around town in his large Chevy Pickup truck. In the back of the truck he had a large sign that read, "If your out of work, and you drive a Foreign made car, You have nobody to blame but yourself". Those words are just as true today as they where back then. The Doraville GM assembly plant has shut down, nothing there but an empty building. The Ford Assembly plant in South Atlanta has met the same faith. Good paying jobs lost forever. good paying support jobs also lost. I think of the number of train cars that where delivered to those two plants every day. Frei9ght dont roll into empty plants. No freight, no need for train crews, no need for track workers. You also had the countless number of trucks that serviced those same facilities, how many truck drivers lost their jobs. They certainly didnt get any pay raises.
Your choices do make a difference. You keep buying overseas, and sooner or later you will have to move overseas to get a job.
