Out-sourcing and the idea of REAL COST...

[Nemo]

Greenspeak: Outsourcing is not a means to improve the "product line," but rather the "bottom line."

 

[Eliot Hariton]

...The real cost of shopping for goods at places like WalMart (all retailers do it, I use Walmart as an example b/c they are the biggest) is in american jobs. We are rotting out the core of our economy. The government should prtect us by raising the cost of trade with other countries. We would then have to pay the actual cost of goods, and that would benefit us in the long term.

Well from my standpoint I see two views.

The first one is that it's not bad to trade w/ other poorer countries because they benefit from our business and it improves their nation / standard of living, etc. which is good from a global point of view of we want to help people and get some cheep stuff while we're at it. This will make us less stronger in the long run but it will even things out throughout the world and let more people experience a better way of life. From the stand point of we have to be the best compared to all the other countries, outsourcing is not a good policy.

The second one is we want to keep our high standard of living to ourselves, we want to keep people here employed, and we want ourselves personally to be better off. There's nothing wrong with this view point, being a tad selfish isn't a crime and it's our right to spend what wealth we have as we wish.

I am undecided which to support. I've always enjoyed a high standard of living so I'd wish the same for everyone, but if it comes at my children's expense, I think I'd say no and spend the extra cash.

 

[TJS0110]

The real cost of shopping for goods at places like WalMart (all retailers do it, I use Walmart as an example b/c they are the biggest) is in american jobs. We are rotting out the core of our economy. The government should prtect us by raising the cost of trade with other countries. We would then have to pay the actual cost of goods, and that would benefit us in the long term.

Have you ever heard of the Hauley-smoot tarriff during the great depression? It was supposed to help the economy bounce back by makeing people pay more for foriegn goods therfore they would rather buy goods from demestic retailers. Now I now your putting it in differnet context but it could cause the same thing. It causes other countries to raise there tarriffs which makes international trade go down the drain. I dont think ive realy commented on what you meant but this is just a point i wanted to make.

 

[skeeterses]

I think the idea of the real cost is going to hit the American people when it comes time to actually rebuild the factories. And yes, that is going to be the real cost. Yes, we are going to bring back manufacturing jobs whether the middle class wants to pay for the investment or not. To understand the real cost of outsourcing, we must understand the root cause of it.

For the past 20 years, the Federal policies have created trillions of dollars worth of debt as well as a globally sized asset speculation bubble backed up by hard money from other countries. These policies have created a large class of "consumers" ranging from government bureaucrats to amature investors who could then go to their Walmarts and demand lower prices, without thinking of the actual worth of the dollar. If the foreign creditors continued loaning America hard money indefinately, things would work out in the long run as the American factory workers could then get a service job or work in the financial sector. However, in the real world, most people do not get rich by speculating on stocks or painting houses.

The Asian central banks and economists are starting to realize that Asia has accumulated bad money from America.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GG23Ad05.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FK25Dj03.html

Right now, central banks on both sides of the ocean are looking for a soft landing and minimize the losses for the Asian and American consumers. If it works, the American consumer will make modest lifestyle changes like using public transportation and going without TV.

If a crash occurs because of an external event like a war, a 2nd Depression will occur. The great American lifestyle of the 1980s and 1990s was made possible by mortgaging the future. The Americans have not fully paid the price yet but that could change soon.