Did I or did I not advocate for encouraging trade/tech schools so that people could service emerging technology? The answer is yes, usmc, you did.
Two entirely different things, but whatever…
From your same source:
“Eisenhower steered a balanced course economically. Some Republicans called for rolling back the New Deal, but the president realized that many of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s libeal social programs were both popular and effective. Instead of getting rid of Social Security, for example, Ike actually expanded it to cover another ten million people who had been left out of the original program.”
Debt allocated to SS:
“$29.0 trillion ($29,038,000,000,000) in obligations for current Social Security participants above and beyond projected revenues from their payroll and benefit taxes, certain transfers from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury, and assets of the Social Security trust fund.[13] [14]”
Thanks decade of prosperity.
Maybe there’s a middle ground on the types of jobs. Like the making socks thing- thats not going to cut it. Making the machines that make socks + making socks gives a better average. Then making the materials that make the machines that make socks. An mining the minerals that make the materials. And making the mining machinery…
Its not just about the end user product. We need the jobs behind the jobs. Thats what is meant when it has been said that our manufacturing base has been gutted.
But when you say no to making the socks- look at what you’re really saying no to.
I’m all for it if it works out economically. So, okay, we manufacture the machines that make socks in the US. Who do we sell them to? Wal-Mart, Amazon, a mom and pop sock store? Probably not because a $10,000 sock making machine + maintenance is a huge sunk cost when you turn around and sell 12 socks for $3. No one is going to buy a sock making machine if no one is buying socks. Revenue flows from the point of sale through the supply chain.
Places like Mexico & China can get away with this because a) they manufacture such a high volume of goods that they make their profit on volume and b) because their citizens are treated like dog shit. Our labor market cannot compete with Mexico’s, for example, because their minimum wage is like $3 USD. Our federal minimum is more than double that and many states are 3+ times that. Add all of the federal and state protections, like unemployment, and there’s no discussion. It’s just not a reality for low end items.
The jobs behind the jobs don’t exist unless the end user is buying the final product.
Can we bring manufacturing jobs back to the US? Sure, it’d be costly, but it’s doable. But it isn’t going to have the desired effect that many people think that it will. Cost of living will go up substantially for everyone.
Are you wearing socks right now? I am. I’d venture to bet that most people who wear shoes are.
I hear you on the can’t compete, but we have to look at the indemic problem of saying “No, those aren’t worth it to produce here” without looking at the jobs behind the jobs and reconsider our values on what “worth it” means.
By the numbers on the per piece production cost is numerically correct, but is it right in the bigger picture? Is it worth it to produce anything then?
By the numbers, the answer will always be no.
This must be incorrect, because the prohibition of drugs itself would drive many to commit more, and more serious, crimes if it were true.
Yep. The United States has decided that many jobs are below American citizens, so it has outlawed them.
They won’t if a 12 pack costs $30. At the very least they will buy less. That’s just supply and demand. I don’t like it any more than you do.
Like I said, if it works economically then I’m all for it. I’m not really sure what else there is to say at this point. Why do company’s offshore / outsource in the first place?
Oh, I don’t agree. It depends on all kinds of factors. Shipping costs, required expertise, consumer expectations, etc… But, ya, the US has pivoted away from manufacturing for many reasons, one of which is that it isn’t cost effective to manufacture here.
That’s the reality of the economy we live in.
At this point I assume I’ve been branded the anti-manufacturing guy, I’m not. I’m just waiting for someone to explain to me how US companies are supposed to do it and make money. The answer “Apple can absorb it, they’re big enough” doesn’t work for me for many of the same reasons that a forced minimum wage doesn’t work for me. Higher costs = Higher prices = unhappy customers = lower demand = less jobs.
okay…
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It’s gonna be huuuuuge.
Just pointing out that the United States(not that any other country wouldn’t do so under the same circumstances) has woven quite the tangled web when it comes to jobs.
Nah, you aren’t. Actually, from the way you’ve described what you do, you’re totally a pro-manufacturing guy. Without good management, there are no guys on the floor.
Next few years will be a litmus test. Campaign rhetoric is exactly that. I’m a meat and potatoes guy. 3.5 years from now, if there isn’t more or is less meat and potatoes to go around, Trump is fucking fired.
Realistically though, I know that you can’t execute an economic restoration of an entire economy in 4 years. Hell, plants and refits take that long in some industries.
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