Made in the USA

Thank You jpete,, i unterstand what you are saying but wouldnt it be best to take one step at a time? Everyone try to buy American as much as possible to get more people back to work,, We have to get job's back here and get people working first , then you can attack the other issue's one by one. This did not happen overnight and you cant fix it overnight, We have to take this in steps, i think the first step is to try and get the jobs back in the USA,,,, then go from there!!

Unfortunately, we aren't going to win against the cheap labor of the Chinese. Instead of spending money shoveling against the tide, the government needs to create a condition under which people will find OTHER things to make and sell to the Chinese and the rest of the world.

The Gov. has to get rid of the incentives that were given to make it more lucrative to move the business to other countries & then bring the profits back with very little if any tax. If Americans quit buying those cheap & mostly cheaply made goods then I guess there just won't be a market for them any more now would there. Not to forget it's not the Chinese per say but the Americans that do their business there & then get treated as job creators by some here, DUH.

lsayre wrote:If I buy some lumber for $20 and apply labor and creativity to it and create a chair that ultimately sells for $200, then in so doing new wealth that has never before existed has been created. Applying labor to add value (I.E., to transform something of lesser value into something of greater value) is the only means whereby wealth that has never before existed is created.

I see what you are saying, but I’m not sure I agree. Service creates wealth that may not be as easily measurable as the price of a chair. Let’s say my $30,000 car is essentially worthless because it won’t run, and ten mechanics can’t diagnose the problem but the eleventh mechanic finds a broken wire and fixes it in 5 minutes. That certainly qualifies as a “service”. How much wealth did he create in 5 minutes? Zero? His salary for 5 minutes of work? $30,000? It would be a great “service” if you discovered how to cure cancer in a single treatment costing $5. How much wealth have you created? Zero? $5? Or $500,000 multiplied times millions of patients, because that’s what the pharmaceutical company will charge? Or $500,000 multiplied times only the people who can afford the fee? Or wealth that can’t be measured because what is the value of the lives saved?

I still really believe that if we try to truly buy American and we would get more jobs back into the USA ( Half decent jobs with a decent pay and benefits ) the USA would get healthy,,, more than what we are today! We as a country would be stronger and be able to deal with the next step more powerfull and full force!! People would have more pride in having a decent job here. It would take time but i know it could be done! Dont we sell alot of stuff to China now,, I have heard they buy alot of our lumber, coal, natural gas and so on.

rberq wrote:

lsayre wrote:If I buy some lumber for $20 and apply labor and creativity to it and create a chair that ultimately sells for $200, then in so doing new wealth that has never before existed has been created. Applying labor to add value (I.E., to transform something of lesser value into something of greater value) is the only means whereby wealth that has never before existed is created.

I see what you are saying, but I’m not sure I agree. Service creates wealth that may not be as easily measurable as the price of a chair. Let’s say my $30,000 car is essentially worthless because it won’t run, and ten mechanics can’t diagnose the problem but the eleventh mechanic finds a broken wire and fixes it in 5 minutes. That certainly qualifies as a “service”. How much wealth did he create in 5 minutes? Zero? His salary for 5 minutes of work? $30,000? It would be a great “service” if you discovered how to cure cancer in a single treatment costing $5. How much wealth have you created? Zero? $5? Or $500,000 multiplied times millions of patients, because that’s what the pharmaceutical company will charge? Or $500,000 multiplied times only the people who can afford the fee? Or wealth that can’t be measured because what is the value of the lives saved?

The service industry preserves wealth. If something that has depreciated in value in any way (damage, rust, broken wires, leaking,etc...) is restored to a level of greater value via applied labor, then new value (wealth) is gained (via restoration through applied labor) in exactly the same way that it is gained when transforming a tree into a chair.

If I write some words on paper and turn it into a book then wealth that never before existed has been created. if I teach someone and they go on to create wealth in part due to my having taught them, then my teaching has created wealth that never before existed. There is consistency in new wealth creation.

Shuffling money around does not make wealth. Money is just a marker for how much value you have added to a product. Note the word Product. To make new wealth a product must be made. Service sector of the economy does not expand wealth. It supports those who do. A necessity, but not a wealth builder in itself. The reason China is getting rich is because they make many products. The reason America is getting poorer is because we alowed our politions to sell our manufacturing to China and other low wage countries.

Open trade borders will always send high wage counties jobs to low wage counties. Their wages will stay low if it is a totalitarien government. Their wages will go up if it is a democracy. Open trade with terrifs is fine if the wage differential is the factor in determining the terrif (and if we keep human rights in mind)

When we started buying Japanese cars, there was a terrif on them. The price of a Japanese car was as high as it would be if it had been made in this country.
Serious quality problems with American cars drove people to buy Japanese. Our manufacturers failed us. We bought Japanese cars and American cars have been getting better ever since. However, Japanese wages went up and terrifs went down, and we still buy Japanese. I have no problem with this. This is FAIR trade.

I bought Toyota for years. Now that our economy is huring and our cars are very good for the most part. I buy only American. I have a Chevy car and truck.

rberq wrote:

lsayre wrote:If I buy some lumber for $20 and apply labor and creativity to it and create a chair that ultimately sells for $200, then in so doing new wealth that has never before existed has been created. Applying labor to add value (I.E., to transform something of lesser value into something of greater value) is the only means whereby wealth that has never before existed is created.

I see what you are saying, but I’m not sure I agree. Service creates wealth that may not be as easily measurable as the price of a chair. Let’s say my $30,000 car is essentially worthless because it won’t run, and ten mechanics can’t diagnose the problem but the eleventh mechanic finds a broken wire and fixes it in 5 minutes. That certainly qualifies as a “service”. How much wealth did he create in 5 minutes? Zero? His salary for 5 minutes of work? $30,000? It would be a great “service” if you discovered how to cure cancer in a single treatment costing $5. How much wealth have you created? Zero? $5? Or $500,000 multiplied times millions of patients, because that’s what the pharmaceutical company will charge? Or $500,000 multiplied times only the people who can afford the fee? Or wealth that can’t be measured because what is the value of the lives saved?

It could be said that the successful mechanic produced a running car vs. a non running car.

Keep in mind that I'm NOT saying services aren't sometimes necessary. We can't all do everything. But lawyers and doctors and landscapers don't "produce" things like machinists and carpenters do.

Also, Big Pharma doesn't make money on curing anything. They make money producing pills and ointments.

I just bought a pair of New Balance shoes, didn't even think of looking at the tag because they were always Made in the USA. You probably guessed it, made in China, hopefully their sales will drop off & they will make them here again, does anyone know if the American plant is still working?

samhill wrote:I just bought a pair of New Balance shoes, didn't even think of looking at the tag because they were always Made in the USA. You probably guessed it, made in China, hopefully their sales will drop off & they will make them here again, does anyone know if the American plant is still working?

I wear NB shoes too but you have to spend well over $100 a pair to get the "Made in USA" ones.

The best way is to start at the local level and for me, that's Connecticut.

http://www.madeinct.com/

http://www.ctfarms.uconn.edu/commodities.html

http://www.chapmanmfg.com/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/30/nyreg ... e-too.html

UCONN had some of the best ice cream I ever tasted, forgot all about it until I saw it in your list.

This can be applied to food of course. We have become accustomed to in season fruits year round. From China(apples), Banana's(South America), Salmon(Chile), Lobster(Canada), Blueberries(Canada and Chile), Etc.
I don't have a word to describe the new age hippies moving into the country from everywhere, I don't know if they have a title. But they are really supporting local farm markets and I can't disagree with them. Many are back to the earth hard working people, just different in other ways. Many have high end educations although that is not always desirable. They are not stupid. Just brainwashed maybe, pro Obama, pro union, etc. It is a growing segment of the population here in Maine. Fortunately, global warming is making it possible for them to think they can grow things here. Wait until we have a good 1960's winter!

Kevin

You can grow crops in most places, you just can't crow any crop if your choice is right then your successful if not then your crop tanks before harvest. Just like real estate,solar, wind or most anything else location, location, location. Do your homework & choose wisely.

RE on the New Balance Thing.

Red Wing Boots are the same way.

I work for a large telecommunications company and we work in the elements and I always make certain I buy the Made in the USA Redwing boots.

A coworker and I were talking last week and his red wings were degrading (sole of the boot was pulled apart and flapping) after about 2 years of use. I asked if they were US made. The answer was NO but now he is aware that there are in fact 2 different kinds of Boots even though its the same company. Much like New Balance does....

And yes. The cost is exponentially higher to the tune of at least $100 more per pair. In the long run its worth it to me in Quality and US jobs.

I just bought a pair of redwings, model 2211. They are made in the USA, but with imported materials. They cost me $175.00 I was looking at danners, suppose to be made in USA, they are if you want to spend over $300.00 a pair,they have cheaper one's but not made in the USA. You really have to do some homework on items. There is still alot of items that are affordable made in the USA. I just could not justify paying over $300.00 for work boots and the conditions i work it, i work at a cement plant and the cement dust cracks the leather up in no time. So i bought the redwings, at least they were made in the USA. I got 2 years out of my last pair of redwings before they started to leak. I still wear them, only when it is dry out. Will see what kind of wear i get out of the new ones with " imported materials "