[lucysmom]

1. If every refrigerator purchased in the U.S. were made in the U.S., what would the guy who makes refrigerators for a living do once every household and office building in the country had a refrigerator?

That's like saying if new homes last as long as they used to, builders would be out of work.

[patton]

New homes can certainly last as long as they used to - it is just that replacing them is sometimes cheaper, in the long run.

Like your old fridge - if you had to recharge it with R12 freon today, you would find that it would be cheaper to buy a new one.

And that is not because of the labor cost - it is because of regulations.

I know of a number of scientific endeavers, in the same veign, that are conducted oversees - because you can't legally do them in the US, under any circumstances.

[Alberta's Child]

Well, no. Nowadays, a home will likely become functionally obsolete before it ever decays beyond repair.