Yep, even though I think the Toyota still had a GM 350 in it, I think, which I thought was kind of funny.
The Stupidity of "Buy American:" The Case Against Economic Protectionism
- Thread starter Dave70968
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Yep, even though I think the Toyota still had a GM 350 in it, I think, which I thought was kind of funny.
Does it really matter? If a "foreign" owned company is spending profits building infrastructure in the U.S.? Global "U.S." companies often spend more money developing infrastucture overseas than they do renewing U.S. infrastucture. If you're a shareholder in a foreign company, your dividend checks will help create U.S. wealth just as well as stock in a U.S. company. I don't see this as an real issue anymore. Our real issue is the trade imbalance. When we import more than we export, we cause our own problems. It's ok to import cars or clothing or anything else, but what are we in turn exporting to cover the difference? For many years now, the answer is "not nearly enough".
Way out of my limited understanding, that's why I ask questions before making a judgement. Thanks.
2 things:
1. The whole point of "Buy American", hinges on the idea that American workers inherently produce better products, and that supporting things that CLAIM to be American helps America as a collective.
Those Wranglers aren't made with any more pride here than they are in Mexico. If we ALL purchased only products made in the US of A, we'd have 1/3 of the things we have now, at the same quality.
2. You seem to have this idea that a company can be "American". Corporations are not people, they don't have nationalities. Publicly traded companies are owned by the stockholders, which usually come from more wealthy nations. If a company whose stockholders are mostly American in produces a good somewhere else, and sells it to Americans, America makes money. Toyota is an American company...they produce cars here, with workers from here, and parts from here, and make profits which benefit stockholders who are mostly American as well. Even if every board member at Toyota is Japanese, they're still more "American" than Ford, who hasn't produced a domestic automobile in a decade.
How does Stossel's theory apply to all of the American workers currently out of work?
From what I have seen it appears pride in workmanship seems to be a lacking quality in the American workforce.
Me either. I can't disagree with it more.
The idea of buying cheaper foreign goods so you will have more left over money to buy American goods makes no sense at all. If it is a good ideal to spend 20% of your income on cheaper foreign goods, then it makes sense to spend all of your income on cheaper foreign goods. The bottom line is that this is what is happening: The money spent on American goods goes into the boss's pocket as well as the employee's pocket. The money spent on foreign goods goes into the boss's pocket and some foreign countries' pocket.
I do agree that we need to realize we are in a global economy and make changes to be more competitive., but we also need to reshape trade for the benefit of the bulk of Americans, not just the top 1% super rich ones who have congress in their pocket. We do have too many rules and regulations and are shooting ourselves in the foot if we can't complete because of them.
We are also blowing it IMHO by lining our future potential enemies (China, etc.) with our wealth. I think this is a serious problem that is going to roost someday.
I absolutely do my best to buy American if I can. And I also try my best to avoid companies that have sold out. The Chinese-isation of American brands makes me angry. It is a huge lie to buy pretty much anything these days because most of it is pure junk.
The truth is that there are a lot of people who don't have the ability to do more than the factory jobs. Many of these folks have moved on to the entitlements and credit and bailing on said credit. Then the people who do work have to bail them out of that mess. We need a variety of jobs suited to our population and we need to put people to work and get them off "guberment check". DemocRAT's are encouraging this direction for votes but it is the wrong direction...
Fixed that for them.
Oh, and who wants to ride rice? I will. I'd prefer kraut, but rice will do. Better for you than a greasy Big Mac. You may not look as cool eating it, but the rice won't leave you feeling bloated and produces less gas.
I've seen little "pride in work" - and that isn't just Americans. The Mexicans that did our drywall did a shoddy job, and the Austrians that build some of the parts where I work can occasionally turn out some surprisingly ugly stuff, too. Double that for the stuff we get from England. It's a global economy, with global suck. Trust me: it ain't just the Yanks.
Toyota doesn't make muscle cars and my Shelby GT500 was assembled in Flat Rock, Michigan.
They made our BMW in Georgia.
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