[eweissenbach]

Good post Trish. American manufacturers, particularly in the automobile sector, have begun to figure it out. People will buy American, if the quality is at least equal to that of foreign goods. Back in the 70s and 80s the quality of American goods was clearly inferior in most cases, especially in the auto industry. Back then I had a great many friends and acquaintences who worked in the auto industry in the Kansas City area. I talked to one of them who worked for Ford and he said he worked in the paint department. He said it took 90 people to run the line and they had 115 people on the department payroll. He said that on his shift there was virtually NEVER a day that his department did not have to borrow people from elsewhere in order to have the minimum to run the line. That was the level of absenteeism in those days and was reflected in the defective and poor quality of the products they put out. That is why the Japanese and Koreans got their foot in the door, as they were putting out quality vehicles at a reasonable price. I am proud that the American worker and the American companies have finally realized that they can compete and even dominate if they work together to give the people a product that is good quality at a fair price.