Posted on 07/03/2019 11:24:29 AM PDT by central_va
Rush is spreading false economic assertions again. Labor is NOT the biggest manufacturing cost. For example cars, even if union labor is used, the cost per vehicle is only 8% on average. I posting this to prove that we are selling out US workers for a few pennies on the dollar!!
(Excerpt) Read more at rushlimbaugh.com ...
Do not throw out numbers without facts. DO RESEARCH! Don't be a Limbaugh.
I would define most at 50% or greater. So according to this we are barely half way there.
It’s going to depend on many other factors obviously. This thread is using autos. It’s probably an average for the industry because obviously the lower the price of the car the higher the labor component. In other industries, labor can sometimes be a fixed cost that fluctuates with volume unless the company is willing to risk losing employees by constantly rescheduling employee time based on production. And low margin goods probably have labor costs much higher.
The other point, a lot of what is termed manufacturing is sometimes just ‘assembly’. All manufacturing, assembly, processing etc requires resources to be sourced and at least partially finished from other suppliers and as noted there is a labor component in there. Your point is valid though the labor cost on materials is already factored into the margin via cost of goods.
Except for clothing I would defy anyone to find anything you use on a daily basis that cost 50% or more in labor to produce.
Part of is that the manufacturer buys outside produced parts and those parts may be 60& labor and that is incorporated in the materials category.
I used to do complex estimating on very large construction projects and as most of the buildings involved are 60% (average) subcontractor costs our labor totals never carried the labor of first or second tier specialty subcontractors or material supplies as a “Labor” item in the cost estimate. Only our direct labor and all the indirect costs were carried. Often the indirect costs of labor equal or exceed the paid labor amounts.
It’s a side note, but I am sick of Apple. $1200 for a device? And all the dang accessories. Can’t even listen to music on them anymore without either sending radiation waves into your ear cavity or buying a dongle. I am sticking with my phone from 4 models ago simply because it works fine and has a headphone jack. Whatever they call an improvement/upgrade either seems like a setback to me, or is something I would never notice. So I will keep fixing or replacing this model phone with used versions or putting a new screen on it when it cracks (done that twice already).
Of course I tried Android but iOS works better with my car. I wish all cars had universally adopted a more open system but at this moment it’s cheaper (cheapest) to keep my old phone than to switch cars to switch to Android. And it’s not like a duopoly between google & apple is any better than a monopoly. DOJ went after Microsoft for essentially the same behavior that these two companies engage in. We desperately need to be rid of the tech cartel.
Everything I posted here is based on a lengthy thread we had on this very subject ... where the whole story was laid out by a Freeper who happens to work in the auto industry.
Again you pulled that out of your butt. Parts are stamped out and very little human contact needed.
The engine block is the largest most complex car part. Here is video of one being made. It is 99% automated. Watch it!
Mass produced items, consumables etc will not cost that high. Handmade goods might because the laborer probably doesn't calculate all the hours, or considers it spare time, or has time to fill and it's better to make 49% than 0%.
How about ride-sharing? Just trying to rise to your challenge :-)
Hey, I don’t care who makes what, where. I am just trying to get you to clarify your statement.
You talk about cars, and you post a chart relating to shoes. I am not sure where you are going with this. But it looks like a train wreck, so it will be fun to watch.
Modern manufacturing is NOT labor intensive even if made in the USA and even with union labor. This is a fact but most FEEL( not think ) that is false because GLOBULLISTS and Free Traitors™ have been brain washing Americans for 3 decades to feel otherwise( not think ). Pick your product and DO RESEARCH.
Rush made a generalization. You don’t like it. You are welcome to your opinion but not the assumption that you are any more of a cost analysts than Rush.
I included my 45 year history in construction cost estimating and explained that “Labor” in general is a very non-specific term. R & D costs and engineering costs are mostly labor and the indirect overhead, like healthcare, that follows each hour of labor, but they aren’t generally viewed as manufacturing labor.
I am not going to automatically agree or disagree with you or Rush, I am pointing out that it is a generalization and not something of fine detail except in a very specific instance.
Rush is a saint to a lot of people and his libertarian views have harmed the USA IMO. I still like him but as an entertainer not an informer.
It’s not the most expensive cost. But it is the most malleable.
I am not sure what your point is. Why are you showing a chart with shoes. You lump labor and overhead together?
Have you ever run a business and done a set of books, or managed a P&L division?
I ask this because you really don’t seem to understand how accounting and manufacturing works from an accounting point of view.
A good point. I recently spent three months in Australia.
Most things there are about twice as expensive as in the U.S.A.
But it is hard to separate out labor costs (very high) at the low end, energy costs (very high by government policy and taxes), and taxes (made everything higher).
It is interesting to note that Marx considered all value to come from labor.
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