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tater · 11-12-10, 10:48 PM

No reason for rent to increase in CA when the housing market is in freefall. (not saying it isn't, I believe you, but that it's really weird)

BTW, the answer to my question above is "the USA." We are the biggest manufacturer on earth.

That said, manufacturing jobs are not great jobs unless they are artificially high in pay. The height of this would be unionized American auto workers. Which car you want, the chevy, or the toyota (both made in the US)? It's not like paying auto-workers almost as much as family practice docs has resulted in world-winning craftsmanship. In fact, exactly the opposite.

Im not exactly sure what would magically improve if we had more cheap consumer goods made here. The choice is to charge WAY more (then the goods are no longer cheap), or to pay WAY less. Which do you prefer? Those are the only two choices. Strike that, a 3d choice. Manufacturing so automated, it employs almost no one. That doesn't create any jobs, obviously.

If we pay the US factory workers the good wage you'd presumably like, which is some multiple of the labor costs in china (tyrant has a university grad making $450/month ($2.81/hr)), then the goods become more expensive. Say a factory worker makes $1/hr in china (guess), we'd say a minimum of $20/hr? 20X labor cost. That makes wholesale 40X, and retail 80X. So the $20 thing at walmart from china has $1 in labor in is now almost $100. Too bad, even lower income people used to buy the $20 product... not so much at $100, they do without.

It's not simple. Really. Making stuff here paying what we'd like to pay—heck, even a small amount above min wage—grossly increases the price of consumer goods. Having a few more not so great factory jobs isn't really gonna help people afford this.

The better type of mfg for the US, is low volume, high-quality. Still like the leather jackets. A luxury market, but a nice income for a family, even on an expensive coast.

Bottom line is that the only people who ever did really well with manufacturing in the US were those running the business. The jobs have always been marginal, or unionized to absurdity, and then the only choice is to move offshore or die.

11-12-10, 10:48 PM	#24
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	No reason for rent to increase in CA when the housing market is in freefall. (not saying it isn't, I believe you, but that it's really weird) BTW, the answer to my question above is "the USA." We are the biggest manufacturer on earth. That said, manufacturing jobs are not great jobs unless they are artificially high in pay. The height of this would be unionized American auto workers. Which car you want, the chevy, or the toyota (both made in the US)? It's not like paying auto-workers almost as much as family practice docs has resulted in world-winning craftsmanship. In fact, exactly the opposite. Im not exactly sure what would magically improve if we had more cheap consumer goods made here. The choice is to charge WAY more (then the goods are no longer cheap), or to pay WAY less. Which do you prefer? Those are the only two choices. Strike that, a 3d choice. Manufacturing so automated, it employs almost no one. That doesn't create any jobs, obviously. If we pay the US factory workers the good wage you'd presumably like, which is some multiple of the labor costs in china (tyrant has a university grad making $450/month ($2.81/hr)), then the goods become more expensive. Say a factory worker makes $1/hr in china (guess), we'd say a minimum of $20/hr? 20X labor cost. That makes wholesale 40X, and retail 80X. So the $20 thing at walmart from china has $1 in labor in is now almost $100. Too bad, even lower income people used to buy the $20 product... not so much at $100, they do without. It's not simple. Really. Making stuff here paying what we'd like to pay—heck, even a small amount above min wage—grossly increases the price of consumer goods. Having a few more not so great factory jobs isn't really gonna help people afford this. The better type of mfg for the US, is low volume, high-quality. Still like the leather jackets. A luxury market, but a nice income for a family, even on an expensive coast. Bottom line is that the only people who ever did really well with manufacturing in the US were those running the business. The jobs have always been marginal, or unionized to absurdity, and then the only choice is to move offshore or die.