'Amazon couldn’t make a Kindle [in the U.S.] if it wanted to'

[Dillinquent]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

No, they want a fair wage so that they don't have to rely on food banks and homeless shelter kitchens to feed themselves or their kids. Not to mention enough to have and maintain a decent home of some sort instead of being stuck in crime-ridden slums or on the street.

And the Chinese aren't entitled to those things?

[Ditchleyportrait]

i would pay extra for a us ereader
although i like amazon

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Dillinquent

And the Chinese aren't entitled to those things?

The thing is, they have a lower standard and lower cost of living at the moment.

How manufacturers often do it, is build where ever it is cheapest, and when ever it is not the cheapest, they move on to the new cheapest spot. US used to have a lot of industry, till it was decided that things were cheaper in Japan and Korea. The new jobs brought in money to those countries, and that increased standard of living, which eventually increased cost as well. Then you saw things move from Japan and Korea into China, and now China is experiencing its boom. Due to its size, China isn't seeing manufacturing leave the country as quickly as Korea and Japan did, but rather seeing it move to another region. What used to be done in Taiwan and Hong Kong, is now done in Shenzhen or Guanzhou. However even those regions are starting to be migrated away from, with heavy weights like Foxconn eyeing Henan and Sichuan for locations to move factories to. Sometimes, when an area gets a boom from manufacturing, they can maintain their economy by shifting to other things, but sometimes they can't and things drop out. It is a vicious cycle, and as the cheap areas become not so cheap, and things slowly increase, as more and more places become cheap-gone-boom. Even if they become cheap again, they're still at higher levels than what they were before.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Also, many Western nations like Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark and the UK have significantly more equitable economies, and aren't particularly reliant on manufacturing.

Scratch the UK off the list. Inequality there is as bad as the USA, but without the massive black underclass that exists in the USA, so it's actually worse for most people.

Funnily enough the USA and the UK both have the same electoral first-past-the-poll system (Blue or Red, and they both further the same policies).

The possibility for personal financial improvement is better in all the other mentioned countries, all of which have some form of proportional representation.

[Sonny Blount]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Scratch the UK off the list. Inequality there is as bad as the USA, but without the massive black underclass that exists in the USA, so it's actually worse for most people.

Funnily enough the USA and the UK both have the same electoral first-past-the-poll system (Blue or Red, and they both further the same policies).

The possibility for personal financial improvement is better in all the other mentioned countries, all of which have some form of proportional representation.

NZ and Aus are very similar countries and have had similar economies. NZ used to be wealthier than Aus when we both had First Past the Post electoral systems. NZ has moved to Proportional Representation and has fallen way behind Australia economically.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Scratch the UK off the list. Inequality there is as bad as the USA, but without the massive black underclass that exists in the USA....

Despite the deep history of class divisions, the UK does have less income inequality. As best I can tell, the difference is largely due to significantly higher government transfers (e.g. NHS) and higher tax rates on the wealthiest percentile.

Also, according to Forbes the wealthiest UK private citizen is Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster (#57), and there are 21 American billionaires with larger fortunes than his. Grosvenor inherited most of his wealth, while many of the Americans earned their massive fortunes during their own lifetimes. I'd guess something about this is also a factor in this matter.

Thus according to the CIA Factbook, Sweden's GINI is 23 (the highest ranked), UK is 34, US is 45, Brazil 56, South Africa 65.

Oh, and African-Americans are only 12% of the US population. 72% of Americans are white (including white Hispanics).

[Pinecone]

There is still semi conductor fab in the US. There is still plastics manufacturing. Not as much, but it is still there.

His statement that we can invent thenext generation of tech is definitely wrong. Most of the innovation and invention are here. Just the manufacturing is outsourced.

[ebusinesstutor]

In World War II the allies won because of America's entry into the war with its large manufacturing capacity. Basically, America outproduced Japan and Germany producing launching many more ships, aircraft and tanks than the Axis.

Now, the manufacturing has moved from America to China. The country with the largest standing army in the world which just launched its first aircraft carrier.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

In World War II the allies won because of America's entry into the war with its large manufacturing capacity....

1) In 1939, the US had a fraction of the military manufacturing capacity that it would build in a few short years.
2) By 1944, 50% of labor in the US was connected to military output. That meant, among other resources, putting farmers and housewives with little or no industrial job experience on the assembly line.
3) Manufacturing facilities in Germany and Japan were bombed constantly, especially towards the end of the war. US manufacturing was essentially untouched during the war.

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

Now, the manufacturing has moved from America to China. The country with the largest standing army in the world which just launched its first aircraft carrier. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Seriously? That's your argument? If we don't keep our manufacturing jobs in the US, then China is going to invade?

I guess it doesn't matter that the US is the largest buyer of Chinese exports, that a huge amount of China's capital reserves are in US dollars, that military conflict between the US and China would ruin the Chinese economy, that US manufacturing output is near historic highs, that the US military is superior in many ways, that we have enough nukes to flatten every major city in China, that the US military budget is nearly 7 times greater than China's, that the US outpaces China in military exports by almost 8:1.

By the way, China didn't even really build the carrier. It's an old Soviet carrier that was headed for the scrap yards back in '91, and it's taken them 10 years to fix it up.

Thanks for the FUD. Next....

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Scratch the UK off the list. Inequality there is as bad as the USA, but without the massive black underclass that exists in the USA, so it's actually worse for most people.

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee this morning, but did that just imply what I think it did?