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If exporting jobs is inefficient, let people try to do it and fail - of course they will get outcompeted by the people who aren't exporting jobs, right? Your c

If exporting jobs is inefficient, let people try to do it and fail - of course they will get outcompeted by the people who aren't exporting jobs, right? Your comment gives an extremely weak argument in favor of regulation - paraphrased, it seems like you're saying "companies are stupid and don't know how to make money, so we should regulate them to force them to be more profitable". It's hard to say that sentence with a straight face :-)

coupdetaco 10y ago
Businesses, in particular corporations, only operate in the context of some government. Plenty of folks who think competition is the best and that competition brings out the best in everything still believe that you still have to first organize markets and make sure they are competitive, i.e. It is not the natural state of things in each and every realm of life. We do not force companies to be profitable, we force them to play by a set of rules that we agree allows society to extract the most value from the companies rather than the other way around.
AnthonyMouse 10y ago
> If exporting jobs is inefficient, let people try to do it and fail - of course they will get outcompeted by the people who aren't exporting jobs, right? Not if China manipulates currency to overcome the effect.
- idanoeman 10y ago
  Fine - let them give the US cheap shit. They're subsidizing American consumers. By the way, the sentence you quoted was rhetorical - I don't actually believe that doing all manufacturing in America is actually productive, profitable, useful or desirable.
  - AnthonyMouse 10y ago
    Go back and read the first post. Think about what happens if all the manufacturing happens in China. If they get to the point where they can start designing things there then they have the advantage. What America should be doing is highly promoting domestic automated manufacturing. Even if it created exactly zero manufacturing jobs, having the factory here would provide a local advantage. Local mills would have a cost advantage because the materials wouldn't have to be shipped halfway across the world and back. Product designers could actually see how their products are being made and improve the process without international air travel, etc.

coupdetaco 10y ago

Businesses, in particular corporations, only operate in the context of some government. Plenty of folks who think competition is the best and that competition brings out the best in everything still believe that you still have to first organize markets and make sure they are competitive, i.e. It is not the natural state of things in each and every realm of life. We do not force companies to be profitable, we force them to play by a set of rules that we agree allows society to extract the most value from the companies rather than the other way around.

AnthonyMouse 10y ago

> If exporting jobs is inefficient, let people try to do it and fail - of course they will get outcompeted by the people who aren't exporting jobs, right? Not if China manipulates currency to overcome the effect.

idanoeman 10y ago
Fine - let them give the US cheap shit. They're subsidizing American consumers. By the way, the sentence you quoted was rhetorical - I don't actually believe that doing all manufacturing in America is actually productive, profitable, useful or desirable.
- AnthonyMouse 10y ago
  Go back and read the first post. Think about what happens if all the manufacturing happens in China. If they get to the point where they can start designing things there then they have the advantage. What America should be doing is highly promoting domestic automated manufacturing. Even if it created exactly zero manufacturing jobs, having the factory here would provide a local advantage. Local mills would have a cost advantage because the materials wouldn't have to be shipped halfway across the world and back. Product designers could actually see how their products are being made and improve the process without international air travel, etc.