Posted on 02/01/2003 11:27:51 PM PST by FightingForFreedom
Wages will not equalize between U.S. and foreign countries for a very long time, if ever. The problem is supply differences. The 100 million or so American workers are vastly outnumbered by the potential number of Chinese, Indian, and other developing nation's manufacturing and knowledge workers. The standard of living differential is also too great. The balancing act for U.S. and multi-national businesses that are outsourcing our jobs is to make sure they don't kill the golden goose (the American consumer) before they've generated an even bigger goose to take to slaughter in China, India, and other targeted markets. Remember, producing cheaply means nothing if there's nobody to buy the products. And no one has been as well-trained as the American consumer to buy, buy, buy, no matter how much in debt one becomes! As a software engineer, I've seen this problem coming for at least 5 years now, but it was well masked by the artificial high-tech bubble through March 2000. I'm not sure that there is an answer at this point -- the genie is out of the bag, so to speak. Once one company in an industry has convinced the govt to open a market in one undesirable country or other, all other companies with which it competes are forced to do the same. Bottling up the genie is notoriously difficult.
No need to get nasty with Joe. Joe will bite back. Hard.
If this is not the land of milk and honey what is???
No mistake, you are correct, America is still, currently the best and highest standard of living, but in my opinion is is not getting any better or improving.
Look no further than many of our great cities. Many of them now resemble 3rd world countries, with senseless murder zones and huge areas that look like the have been completely abandoned. Many of our states are now operating in the red and with shrinking tax bases etc.
This is just my observations from traveling all over this country.
Things don't last forever. Sometimes cycles end.
Oh like the stock market? LOL! I would rather juggle chain saws than deal in the market.
Going to school is not a guaranteed investment. There are millions of college educated individuals in every country. Many of them willing to work at wages below what a person makes at Burger King.
We shall see. I am just curious, what do you think will bring the economy back?
Markets (when free) seek a level much like water. If I fill a glass half full of water, what is the chance that all the water would be on one side of the glass? The same chance as your economic model has of becoming a reality. The "loss of jobs" you point to as a crisis would certainly be curtailed (by the market) when, on balance, displaced workers become unable to find more productive (read: more highly valued) work than they had prior to their job being exported; as this would create a net loss to our economy.
Shall I assume you would petition our rulers to ban the creation of all labor-saving devices on the grounds that they cost jobs? If not, why? Also, would your state be better off if it imposed a tariff on all goods imported from other states? If not, why?
If someone believes in free trade, then they should believe in it 100% - that means "all" jobs.
Free traders believe that all wages should settle at the "world price" of labor.
Since no american individual would work at the "world free trade price" of labor, no american would need to work anymore. United States government assistance and welfare is higher than the world price of labor. It would be stupid for any american to hold a job at the wage level of chinese peasants, chinese doctors, chinese lawyers, etc.
We would purchase goods and services with welfare checks.
The american corporations, which would be making gobs of money thru cheap labor, would ultimately pay the entire income tax for the funding of the social programs.
Someone already proposed a 10% tarriff on all goods produced in other countries, along giving those all revenues from the 10% tarriff directly to american citizens. Seems workable to me, or maybe 20%. That is a nice check for each citizen, maybe no need for most citizens to work depending on how much we take in from the tarriff.
I guess that couldn't hurt *this* economy, as long as things go smooth on the front.
False. Free traders believe that all wages should settle at that price agreed upon by individual workers and individual employers.
In order to teach in America one need to get a teaching certificate. I can tell you that there are many new graduates in engineering that are not able to get jobs in their field. There is a significant amount of debt incurred in getting a degree in a profession. A few years ago it was unheard of that a college educated person would be unemployed. This has changed. Having a college education is no longer a guaranteed ticket to a job or a career. These are the facts as they exist today.
It is not so much as "stabdard of living" but cost of living. In India 10K a year can give you a comfortable life while in America 10K is barely enough for one person.
It is not that American workers are spoiled or greedy. It will take time before standards/living costs adjust to the wages.
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