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There are efficiency explosions now and again that create huge shifts, but mostly you just get little tweaks here and there (e.g. increase factory output by 5%

There are efficiency explosions now and again that create huge shifts, but mostly you just get little tweaks here and there (e.g. increase factory output by 5% or even 50%). Not numbers that can touch sacking half your staff or replacing all of them with a production provider in e.g. China.

eru 16y ago
You know why the Chinese have lower wages at the moment? Because they are less productive. As they become more productive, their wages are going up, too.
- loewenskind 16y ago
  Completely wrong. If that were the case then the cost of developing 10k cheap electronic gadgets would be the same in the US vs. China. The US workers would cost more but make more in the same time. This is not the case at all. The Chinese can produce vastly more items than the US can for the same price/time. Do you have any examples where some US company can produce things as such an improved production speed compared to China?
  - eru 16y ago
    You are right that richer countries are not more productive in all sectors. E.g. a Swiss hair cut won't be as superior to a Somalian one, as the differences in wages suggest. My guts tell me that the US is more productive than China in, say, software development and probably finance. But don't trust my guts. Do some research yourself. A quick search for "productivity US china" turned up "U.S. Leads Productivity Ranking; China Gains" (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04output.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04o...).
    - loewenskind 16y ago
      One has to be careful how one measures these things. It's easy to get into tautology land ("Who is more productive? The more expensive one. How do you know they're more productive? Because they're more expensive").
      - eru 16y ago
        Indeed. Though if you can compete on the world market and be more expensive, there's got to be something to justify that.

eru 16y ago

You know why the Chinese have lower wages at the moment? Because they are less productive. As they become more productive, their wages are going up, too.

loewenskind 16y ago
Completely wrong. If that were the case then the cost of developing 10k cheap electronic gadgets would be the same in the US vs. China. The US workers would cost more but make more in the same time. This is not the case at all. The Chinese can produce vastly more items than the US can for the same price/time. Do you have any examples where some US company can produce things as such an improved production speed compared to China?
- eru 16y ago
  You are right that richer countries are not more productive in all sectors. E.g. a Swiss hair cut won't be as superior to a Somalian one, as the differences in wages suggest. My guts tell me that the US is more productive than China in, say, software development and probably finance. But don't trust my guts. Do some research yourself. A quick search for "productivity US china" turned up "U.S. Leads Productivity Ranking; China Gains" (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04output.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04o...).
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    One has to be careful how one measures these things. It's easy to get into tautology land ("Who is more productive? The more expensive one. How do you know they're more productive? Because they're more expensive").
    - eru 16y ago
      Indeed. Though if you can compete on the world market and be more expensive, there's got to be something to justify that.