Posted on 02/12/2005 10:23:21 PM PST by soccer_linux_mozilla
Exactly. Look at the cost of manufacturing an SUV and the sales price. Talk about a rip off, but the perceived value is much much higher then the actual physical value.
You know, I understand if the market is willing to pay so much for a good, regardless it's fiscal value, go for it. That's capitalism and I'm cool with that, rather like it. Here's my question: with record profits and not that much reinvestment into infrastructure: WHERE THE HELL ARE THE DIVIDENDS ON MY STOCKS? This years dividends have been as pathetic as the last 4 years. If they're not paying off dividends and not buying back stock and not spending on capital investment, where exactly are the record profits heading?
Yeah and for those little green pieces of paper to be worth anything they eventually have to end up back here. Brilliant!
(Most anti-Free-traders forget that part.)
Our factories? Which factory of yours did you send to China and why if you are against outsourcing?
When people are poor or perceive their incomes going down, extreme low price and second hand goods stores flourish. During real good times they wither. If people perceive their lot in life as improving, they'll jump the gun and go ahead and buy name brand. They haven't, that says something about the Joe Sixpack out there.
The problem is, with a weak dollar, oil is much more expensive to purchase and that will grind our economy to a halt. Two, with the government spending $2.5 billion in debt every single damn day, $2 billion comes from foreigners and that means we must continue raising interest rates to continue to attract them to our debt issues which are now worth much less with a weak dollar. Of course every time debt interest rates (coupon rates) go up, the value of old debt becomes much less, but that's a seperate issue.
You are right, it was late at night and I wasn't thinking straight about the meaning of capital. I was thinking in a fiscal mindset not in the mind set of long term durables used for production.
Ours as in the nations assets. And they are the nations assets, part of the $80 trillion dollars worth of assets that are assessed when a nation is given a credit rating. Furthermore, not a single one of those factories was ever built without some form of tax payer involvement. Did the roads leading to them and allowing their supply get built by the factory? How about the sewer lines? etc.
The funding needs to be cut completely from wasteful programs like the NEA, IRS, EPA, UN., etc. That would go a long way into reducing debt.
Ahh I see so you deem that there are no private property rights in the USA because the government provides infrastructure to any and all that live and work here.
A capitalist system works because the participants have the freedom to seek profits. Once you start placing restrictions on the system you are on the road to socialism. It is too bad you still live in a Keynesian mindset. His theories were forever repudiated when President Reagan and Maggie Thatcher came to power.
Keynes is dead, Long Live Hayek!
It depends on where you buy them. If you shop at stores that sell for less, you can get Nikes for $59.00 a pair. Like Beale's (sp.?) in Florida. I just visited a friend there and that was what Nikes were there. I got a pair of Adidas for less than that.I agree about the quality of some things. Mama always says you get what you pay for. However, some things are fine, no matter where they are made. I would rather buy "Made in U.S.A.", but you don't see a lot of things that are made here. We have priced ourselves out of the market. Why is that? With our technology, why can't we mass produce cheaply here?
Ahh, I see you're one of those who doesn't believe that a corporation is a social/legal agreement between a group of businessmen and society/government. You also don't believe that a corporation owes anything to the society that sponsored it, built its supportive infrastructure, educated its work force and provided it with legal and military protection in its over seas dealings.
There are credible and serious economists who are VERY leery of the "inflation" numbers currently published and who think that it should be nearer 5% than 3%.
But the number was massaged by the X42 gang and by FRB, for a variety of reasons--mostly to make themselves look good.
Just for the hell of it, why don't you point out in the Constitution where it says "capitalism" has unfettered rights?
We're in theory of governance here, not the econ sandbox for mental midgets a'la Ayn Rand.
Exactly, I believe a Corporation is a group of people who wish to do business. Capitalism is based on free trade and once you start imposing restrictions on free trade the market will react.
If labor is too high in this part of the country then a factory will pull up stakes and move to another part of the country. If in the state of Ohio you say Business taxes are now 15% and New Mexico says move here and we will only charge you 3% say goodbye to that factory in Ohio.
Labor and government regulation are the biggest expenses in opening and running a business. Apparently in China both of these factors are a good bit less than compared to the US to offset the cost of shipping these goods here.
Throwing more regulation on top of the situation will not work.
What is that old saying about "stop digging when you find yourself in a hole"?
Just for the hell of it why don't you point out in the Constitution where it says I can't move a factory to China?
Capitalism doesn't have rights, people do and if they decide to move their factories to China or Antartica or Mars who are you to tell them they can't?
There is a huge difference in migrating manufacturing internally in a country and shipping it abroad. Internally it is still part of the nation and the nation still benefits.
Apparently in China both of these factors are a good bit less than compared to the US to offset the cost of shipping these goods here.
Yes, nothing like slave labor where labor costs are kept artificially low by the power of the state's guns (by the way, where is the economic freedom in China? Or does it only apply to America in the context of shipping our factories there?) where the workers are basically slaves of the statesand the state's chosen "capitalist" agents (mostly party functionaries and military generals or their immediate families) and have ZERO right to negotiate prices or work conditions. Furthermore, China is one of the most polluted nations in the world with millions of acres of agricultural land lost yearly to desertification. But hay, it's cool, we should have that here and like China, we should also have ZERO worker safety laws, after all, if they can absorbe 10,000 industry FATALITIES each and every month, why shouldn't we?
Maybe you were taught such in some socialist hellhole that passes for a school, but in reality America was built on the tenants of Freedom.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is what the Declaration of Independece talks about.
The Constitution sets down rules on how the Federal Government is to operate which mentions nothing about restricting capitalism or Business practices.
The Bill of Rights enumerates things the government is not allowed to do like restricing free speech or unreasonable search and seizures, etc.
"...the very fact that a corporation has to be registered and falls under governance laws shows that it is not a wholely independent entity."
OK, if we take that approach YOU have to be registered with the government as well (Drivers license, Marriage license, Income taxes, Birth Certificate, etc.) so by your definition your rights can be restricted as well. This idea you are putting forth has been tried before but most of it ended when the Berlin wall fell.
First, lets keep to the rest of my quote: I said in international trade. America, up until post WW2, had very strong protectionist measures and all they accomplished was making the US into an economic power house. Yup, those Founding Fathers were just plain ignorant, didn't pay attention to the Free Trade suicide of the British and French empires that was in progress under their noses.
That's just hyberbole. We sold nearly $200 billion in goods and services to Canada in 2004.
In 2004 the biggest growth segment of the economy has been the $25,000 and lower segment, which is why stores like Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and others have experienced unrivaled growth.
More hyberbole. There have always been more low wage jobs than high wage jobs. 2004 was a record year for the sale of cars. Look out your window and count the SUVs.
When people are poor or perceive their incomes going down, extreme low price and second hand goods stores flourish. During real good times they wither. If people perceive their lot in life as improving, they'll jump the gun and go ahead and buy name brand. They haven't, that says something about the Joe Sixpack out there.
Increased sales of new houses and cars as well as increasing tourism counter your agument. A rising tide lifts all boats even dollar stores.
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