> Why should an American worker get $25 an hour when someone in another country will do the same work for $6? <
You make a fair point. But what if that other country has workers who will do the work for $1 an hour. Then what?
It’s not like after WW II when America was competing with other countries who were free like America, but war-damaged. America is now competing with a totalitarian nation that doesn’t give a damn about freedom, worker safety, common-sense pollution controls, or anything else.
I’m all for fair competition, if the playing field is level. But it’s not.
That uneven playing field is not all China’s fault. Government over-regulation and crazy union demands have also played a part in making this mess.
Agree with it all. I try to explain to my fellow countrymen that we are no longer “worthy” of wages higher than the rest of the world. Those days are gone. That’s one reason the rest of the world has caught up or is catching up in standard of living. And I expect this trend to continue. The good news is that all boats seem to be rising when people are smart about their response.
I agree. I’m only asking the question to keep the whole discussion “real.”
We got rich rebuilding the world after WWII, but that ship has sailed. The rest of the world now competes with us. I’m just asking honest questions that a free world economy has to ask if we want to keep manufacturing here. And the answers often just don’t justify it.
That’s just the world we live in today. Americans have to compete with workers in other countries just like they did before WWII. That is a challenge when we tax the hell out of stuff made here.
It’s why I think the countries that will get the lions share of manufacturing in the future will be those that offer a product “at the door” at a reduced price - and that includes not only cost of goods but the government costs added to the price.At least, that is how it would work in totally free markets. We just don’t have the edge we used to in that area. I wish we did, but we don’t. And most of our problems are caused by our government. We simply pay too many people to NOT work. We can’t sustain that.