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That goes on up the chain, though. The reason manufacturing left the U.S. was because it was no longer cost-effective to pay American wages at the prices preva
by nostrademons 4y ago
That goes on up the chain, though. The reason manufacturing left the U.S. was because it was no longer cost-effective to pay American wages at the prices prevalent in consumer goods industries. Had we kept manufacturing on-shore, the price of goods would've mimicked services like health care, law, and education, all of which have undergone very significant inflation, much more than the economy-wide average.
The result of this on-shoring craze (modulo automation) is that we're likely to see very significant inflation, basically taking us back to the cost structures we saw in the 1980s. No more cheap Chinese or Vietnamese goods at Amazon or Walmart; if we have to Buy American, expect to pay the differential between Vietnamese and American wages, roughly a 30-40x increase.
- LaserDiscMan 4y ago> The result of this on-shoring craze (modulo automation) is that we're likely to see very significant inflation, basically taking us back to the cost structures we saw in the 1980s. No more cheap Chinese or Vietnamese goods at Amazon or Walmart; if we have to Buy American, expect to pay the differential between Vietnamese and American wages, roughly a 30-40x increase. I theorise that it might also lead to a reversal of planned obsolescence and products with a short lifespan. Companies might compete by designing goods based around longevity to justify the higher cost. Household appliances, for example, might be a once in a decade (or longer) purchase as opposed to the throwaway approach.
- midoridensha 4y agoI have serious doubts that American companies can change their mindset and adopt this approach in any kind of timely fashion.
- nirimda 4y agoCompanies don't really have a choice. Employees retire and are trained up. Companies die and new companies are created. Foreign companies can expand into new markets. If there is a change of circumstance that leads to new avenues of profit, they will be taken up.
- guestbest 4y agoIt will probably include higher prices with loans and interest and warranty obligations
- bamboozled 4y ago“No more cheap Chinese or Vietnamese goods at Amazon or Walmart; “ Sounds like paradise to me.
- belltaco 4y agoAnd hell for all the people that aren't rich and have middle or low income.
- chordalkeyboard 4y agothose people can have a higher income because they can get a domestic manufacturing job; its the people who aren't working and rely on subsidized social programs and welfare who would have to take the hit.
- bamboozled 4y agoI think they’d have more money not spending it on useless junk ?
- uni_rule 4y agoBeing too poor to save for high quality things that don't need to be replaced as often is a tax within itself. That's part of why poverty is considered "cyclical".
- bamboozled 4y agoThere's a lot of good second hand things for very cheap available. See my other comment about coffee makers, for example. What screws people without money is the expensive once off things that just always crop up. I have a decent job and I feel the burn, especially now with inflation, a once off surprise expensive can be deadly lately. The accidental parking fines, the expensive medical bill, the new car tyre, the more expensive electricity etc. This IMO is more likely to create cyclical poverty than the ability to buy cheap things from Walmart(TM).
- stonogo 4y ago