We are looking for low cost items, more bang for our buck. Retailers are giving it to us. The thing is, these items are made in China for the most part.
While I enjoy a bargain, I don't consider foreign goods to be cost effective for the most part. In many cases the quality is appalling, and the goods expensive considering the low quality. That is never a bargain.
An example: My husband bought me a portable coffee cup for Christmas. He paid $4.97 for it at WalMart. On the 4th usage, I went to unscrew the lid so I could put it in the dishwasher and the rim separated from the black plastic cover. That was rather expensive considering the amount of use I got out of it. I'd rather pay $10.00 and have it last a year.
And the capitalists keep insisting that the goods are "cheap." Not so. Goods are priced at what the market will bear. So 'cheap' doesn't have anything to do with it.
Nikes cost $5.00 per pair to manufacture and ship into the United States. Why is it the price is still $95? I've never noticed goods cost less just because companies employ cheaper labor overseas. Au contraire, they cost just as much if not more than they always did.