'Made in China' era coming to an end?

[Hector]

Dick Cheney...and that's just one of many...

[MegoSteve]

I hope I don't get too political, but the problem is that Americans have been groomed to expect too much to be able to buy too much for too little money. Don't mean to be insulting, but there's some truth in the whole "fat and lazy American" stereotype. We've been living pretty high on the hog a while because we've benefited from cheap Chinese labor driving prices on goods down. After a few years of cheap Chinese products, America has no manufacturing base so now we have huge unemployment. We traded a short term economic benefit (incredibly cheap goods) and China got a long term economic benefit: a strong manufacturing sector and relative labor stability.

[Hector]

Well...the entire thread is political...lol.

[Mikey]

I hope I don't get too political, but the problem is that Americans have been groomed to expect too much to be able to buy too much for too little money. Don't mean to be insulting, but there's some truth in the whole "fat and lazy American" stereotype. We've been living pretty high on the hog a while because we've benefited from cheap Chinese labor driving prices on goods down. After a few years of cheap Chinese products, America has no manufacturing base so now we have huge unemployment. We traded a short term economic benefit (incredibly cheap goods) and China got a long term economic benefit: a strong manufacturing sector and relative labor stability.

That's true, but your average American can't be blamed for that.
It's the big companies - which big companies are usually to blame for a lot of this country's evil doings.

Yes, you can also blame the average American for buying the stuff, but when you have kids to feed and the paycheck barely meets the rent you don't have the luxury to decide you want to buy American to help prove a point.

The companies dug this hole - not Joe Blow

[Zemo]

There's are a lot of factors you can point to. Companies, Unions the consumer etc. This happened when I was kid with Japan. Everything was made in Japan. Then they developed and China emerged. The same thing will probably happen in China and then another country will pick up the slack.

[Mikey]

Eventually the world is going to run out of poor countries -- then we'll be up sh--'s creek

[ctc]

>Eventually the world is going to run out of poor countries

Nah; 'cos "poor" is a relative term, not an absolute one. SOMEONE will be on the bottom, and we'll all get out turn as time ticks by....

Don C.

[Joe90]

It should be Canada.

Already been there. About the same time manufacturing was going on in the US. And like the US the standard of living was so high that it got too expensive to continue. Up here the "product" is high tech/medical advancements.

I remember the early 1960's when quality items were produced here, or in Europe, and the cheap stuff was made in Japan.

Then Japan became too expensive and production moved to Hong Kong, then Taiwan, Korea, then Malaysia, then Singapore, then China... If across the spectrum large scale manufacturing ever comes back to North America it'll be due to a massive technological break through in automation.

If we borrowed the Time Machine from Megoapesnut's thread and went back to the pre "Made in Japan" era in North America we would probably be surprised at how expensive commonplace items were.

[Mikey]

I think most "American" cars are still made in Canada, right ?

[Zemo]

I think most "American" cars are still made in Canada, right ?

No there are not.

[Joe90]

I think most "American" cars are still made in Canada, right ?

The American companies have some factories here but more and more we are seeing the available "American" cars for sale here are actually assembled in Mexico. However, my truck was made in New Jersey and built to "Canadian Specifications" whatever that means.

[johnmiic]

...my truck was made in New Jersey and built to "Canadian Specifications" whatever that means.

Lol! That means your car has better gas milage, won't break down as soon as its American counterpart and is probably safer to drive!