Bush's "Ownership Society" Already Doomed by his Trade Policies

AmericanEconomicAlert.org ^ | Friday, September 10, 2004 | Alan Tonelson

[WilliamofCarmichael]

RE: It's called capitalism.

What's it called when citizens are asked to defend with their lives those corporations that will not hire them because to "turn a profit" corporations must give the jobs to people in other countries?

[ApesForEvolution]

Make a boat and start paddling to Cuba then...

[Wolfhound777]

Why should they hire someone at the highest possible cost when their duty as corporate officers is to keep costs down to turn a profit? It makes no sense.

[Erik Latranyi]

So what is your answer? What is the economical mechanism which innovations protect high salaries?

Productivity. By making higher quality goods, faster and cheaper, you offset low-wages.

[Jorge]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

[Erik Latranyi]

Oh yeah, the auto idustry is strong. Japanese cars out sell US cars by a huge margin in the US...

Wrong. The Japanese still have the 4th and 5th place market share in the US.

And they still build a superior product for less, and they have outsourced their workers to robots.

And outsourcing to robots is bad??????

[Erik Latranyi]

The original Mustang lasted from 64 1/2 to 68, with the 67-68 models being a fairly major revsion in themselves. The Chevelle had a 64-67 product cycle, the Corvette Stingray only lasted 4 years, the Original Camaro/Firebird only lasted for 3 model years.

The muscle car wars are an example of innovation due to competition. The rest of the lineups were stagnant and unchanging.

[Euro-American Scum]

Free trade ping.

[Erik Latranyi]

What I do think is wrong, is that our workers are having to compete with with people, who's standards of living are almost non-existant, for wages.

You mean like people living in San Fransisco, CA competing with people who live in Wheeling, WV? The former's standard of living is quite high when compared with the latter.

If it is OK for capital to flow to those states where wages are lower then why is it wrong for capital to flow to those countries where wages are lower?

[Wolfhound777]

I don't care who they outsource to. I still drive my 98 Japanese car and it runs like new. They build a superior automobile.

[Erik Latranyi]

...we, on the other hand, outsource to corrupt, tyrannical third world countries to get "cheap" labor to make products and services to export back to us.

The lessons of the Cold War are that our culture can change nations with an adversarial attitude towards us.

A poor China becomes a threat like North Korea, where a capitalized China becomes harder and harder for the socialist masters to govern.

The people of China, India, etc are already understanding that what they make is cheap products for us. At the same time, they see our standard of living. They want that for themselves.

Communist China will not exist in 25 years without a shot being fired.

[Erik Latranyi]

I still drive my 98 Japanese car and it runs like new. They build a superior automobile.

I disagree. Today's American cars are every bit as good as today's Japanese cars. Too much of quality is perception and there is a bias factor in our culture that Japanese cars have fewer defects.

[garandgal]

Why should they hire someone at the highest possible cost when their duty as corporate officers is to keep costs down to turn a profit? It makes no sense

You're right. It makes no sense, if you have no morals and no interest in retaining our status as the world leader & superpower. With that attitude it also makes perfect sense to own slaves, or to force children to work 80 hours per week in sweat shops. Profits are all that matter, right?

Thought we'd gotten over this 100 years ago.

[Wolfhound777]

I am not speaking from perception but my experience. I have owned both and only my american cars needed work beyond changing the oil and scheduled maintenance. We could debate this all night but it just comes down to our personal preferences and experiences.

[Wolfhound777]

Your reaching here and don't understand free market capitalism or the reason corporations exist in the first place which is to turn a profit. If you want good works, solicit the red cross or the UN.

[Brimack34]

Tell that to Bob Barr, Pat Buhcanon and Joe Scarboy. They have chosen this time to rip into the President over different issues. The Patriot act(Bob) the war(Pat)the economy(Joe) All have books to sell and all attack the President. I see a pattern here and I do not like it.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

I've got to ask.. how is Cuba related to anything? My reply? How?

[ApesForEvolution]

If you can't take the opportunity that abounds in America, you won't make it anywhere...might as well take the free healthcare Castro's offering.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

I pose the question again. How come foreigners outsourcing to us and hiring our labor can make it here and some American executives cannot?

[Wolfhound777]

I don't understand your question. What do you mean by foriegners outsourcing to us and some executives cannot?