Replies

“That’s what you have done.”

No I am not scared of competition. I am prepared for them, let them come in whatever form. I don't need to cut and run to my nanny “state” and ask for protection against competition. What I meant was government protection isn't REALLY going to protect you from competition.

“You refuse to acknowledge, and face the reality, that Airbus is not “competition” but a French-scheme, a governmentally financed attack on a core U.S. industrial advantage”

Every competition is actually a scheme, depending on from which side you are looking at it. If the French has a scheme I am sure even Boeing has one. And I am sure Boeing has similar schemes against its other competitors in collusion with other governments. Even US companies are know for bending rules or sometime even foul play. I dont need to take a partisan attitude towards any company. I have no stake in their battle. Let them compete for all I care.

“There are no such things as lower-costs than China.”

As a matter of fact there is. Indo-China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South asia, have far lower labour cost then China. Only reason why China is preferred is because of their industrial infrastructure, their speedy bureaucratic system (less red tape) when it comes to foreign investment, and their Most Favoured Nation status accorded by the US, is what makes them attractive. While Chinese government is more efficient, other countries are building their infrastructure to make themselves attractive. China still attracts more because of their sheer size. China uses their bargaining leverage to have companies move part of their production units to China in return for access to the worlds largest consumer market. India will have similar strength soon.

BTW I don't subscribe to your conspiracy theories that foreign governments are colluding against the US.

“The American Way...is the American System which built us into the Superpower....”

And what system is that?

Oh, so now you get specific finally with an assertion. To wit, Malaysia is actually SIGNIFICANTLY higher wages than China, and it is not possessed of more red tape particularly than China, has essentially no labor standards either, or environmental, etc. China, on the other hand actually requires the US FDI surrender HALF of its ownership interest in the investment.

This article spells out typical wage differentials:

Next, we used my firm's proprietary model to estimate CM production costs in the countries of interest. While the model considers many variables, wages usually account for most of the cost difference in manufacturing. Typical wages for hand labor, for instance, range from a low of 77 cents per hour in China to $1.16 in Malaysia, $1.80 in Mexico and $13.52 in the United States (see chart #1). Wage differences are some-what less pronounced for higher-skilled positions. Process engineers, for instance, earn about $16,000 yearly in China, $21,000 in Malaysia, $32,000 in Mexico, and $54,000 in the United States.

Chart #1

COMPARATIVE WAGES (Includes fringe benefits and taxes*)

POSITION	USA (Typical)	MEXICO (Guadalajara)	SINGAPORE	MALAYSIA (Penang)	CHINA (Shenzhen)
$/hr. Handwork Labor	$13.52	$1.81	$3.45	$1.16	$.77
Machine Operator	$17.15	$2.96	$4.42	$1.46	$.97
$/yr. Process Engineer	$53,560	$32,136	$29,458	$21,424	$16,068
Buyer	$47,214	$28,329	$25,968	$18,886	$14,164
Operations Manager	$95,983	$57,590	$55,410	$38,393	$28,795
*Typical wages paid by contract manufacturers, OEM rates are somewhat higher.

Wage differences usually account for most of the manufacturing product-cost differences among countries.

Every competition is actually a scheme, depending on from which side you are looking at it.

So you are "above" being an American, eh? This is pablum straight out of the liberal school of moral relevancy...equating the US as no better than ANY OTHER country. And the "Arsenal of Democracy" is just a convenient fiction for jingoistic rubes, eh?

Rather arrogant claim of "neutrality". Just like all the importers who have their actual paychecks paid by Americans. Not the foreigners who they ship from.

Yes, they are involved in a "side"...but just not the American side, eh?

If the French has a scheme I am sure even Boeing has one.

Oh, like they are equivalent?

And I am sure Boeing has similar schemes against its other competitors in collusion with other governments.

And you wouldn't see EADS/Airbus as the driving force causing that? Their corruption of the "competition" is in isolation, and has no adverse consequences?