[tvbound]

Originally Posted by GrumpyOldMan

Well, my take is that we have prayed at the god of money for many decades. We raised our children to dream of getting rich and retiring early. EVERYTHING in this country is about making a fast buck. Bill Maher had a good "New Rules" last week pointing out how it is almost impossible to get any big projects done in this country because everyone wants to make some "under the table".

A lot of people blame outsourcing, but the fact is American's are addicted to cheap. Wall Street demands companies make quarterly goals that are set by money managers who have never worked for a living. Let a company miss money managers projections and the company's stock will tank. Not because the company did something wrong, BUt, because what they did right was not what the money manager wanted them to do.

Personally, I think most of our country's "issues" at this moment all have a root cause of making fast easy money no matter what the cost to our country.

"the fact is American's are addicted to cheap."


Therein lies the crux of the problem, of trying to buy American.

We're fortunate to be able to afford the 'almost always' higher prices, but all too many fellow citizens (e.g.- working poor)- aren't so lucky.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Will you care when robots eliminates cashiers jobs? Well, not now right?

As rlcooper70 says, robots are doing more and more factory jobs so, with labor costs being the biggest reason why US products tend to cost more than those made overseas, you will soon be able to Buy American AND have fewer Americans employed in manufacturing.

[banjobob]

Long live Walmart “the China merchant “

[Nick B]

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

Do we make anything in America anymore? Seems like everything is made in other countries.

Just noticed that? It's been that way for 30 years.

[rpcurt]

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

Do we make anything in America anymore? Seems like everything is made in other countries.

Boeing is the largest US manufacturing exporter. We also, thanks to Pres Trump, have become the world's largest producer of oil and gas, which we export.
True, we lost hundreds of manufacturers during the Obama years...recall Obama saying 'manufacturing will never return to the US'.
Intellectual property is a huge product for the US.
But here is a crazy example: golf balls. COSTCO makes its Kirkland golf balls in China. Why? Making golf balls is not a labor-intensive process, but somehow it makes economic sense for COSTCO to make them in China and pay to ship them to the US. The raw materials cost the same in US, manufacturing machines cost the same, labor costs are low.
So what is different? Taxes, regulations (like OSHA, etc.), ease of doing business.

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

Do we make anything in America anymore? Seems like everything is made in other countries.

It's only going to get worse. I'm not going to say why because surely it would be flagged as political.

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by tvbound

"Made in America" purchases will only come back in vogue, when people are willing to pay more (often a LOT more) for essentially the same products. It's simply common sense, that if you're paying employees more - then the cost of the goods or services will most likely be more. In essence, we have only ourselves to blame for the amount of foreign made services/goods, when we prioritize price. The ultimate irony being, that those foreign countries making so many of our products are simply trying to follow the old American model - of creating a burgeoning middle class/strong economy.

There is a much clearer explanation than just pay rates but if details were put here it would be flagged political so NO COMMENT

[NoMo50]

Originally Posted by rpcurt

COSTCO makes its Kirkland golf balls in China.

While your overall point has merit, some clarification is in order: Costco doesn't "make" anything. They have manufacturing/licensing agreements with hundreds of manufacturers, and then put the Kirkland brand name on the product. Most of the Kirkland brand products are made by well known manufacturers, many of which are in the USA. Those Kirkland AA and AAA batteries you see at Costco at great prices are actually made by Duracell. The Kirkland golf balls are (or at least were) made by Callaway (Costco has a long relationship with Callaway). In fact, roughly 90% of premium golf balls are made in the USA...in 3 states (Massachusetts, Georgia and South Carolina).

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I am anti-isolationist. So I don't really care which country makes a thing, or which country makes a part of a thing that was used to make a thing. I care if it's a) something I actually want, b) affordable compared to similar things, c) readily available, d) of a measure of quality that meets or exceeds minimum standards, which depends entirely on what the thing is.

If my plastic credit card was made with petroleum imported from Saudi Arabia, I'm not going to refuse to use the credit card. In fact, my "care-o-meter" level of the country of origin of that plastic is at 1, only because there is no 0 on the care-o-meter.

If your car was made completely 100% in the USA, but all the machinery in the manufacturer's shop that is used to make the car was made in another country, would you care? No, scratch that. DO you even know what country the screws on the paint machine were made in? No, no you don't. You have no idea where those drills and paint machines and tire-pressure-gauges and whatever else is used to make a car, came from. Nor do you care.

And have you been into a Tesla plant lately, to make sure that all the employees were "made in America?" How many of them were "imported" and are citizens here, but born somewhere else? Have you checked? Have you cared enough to even wonder? Of course you haven't.

So - your "care" of the country of origin is noted. And insignificant.

And that is why we are where we are, because you are certainly a part of the majority. Sad but true

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

The USA is the World's third largest exporter - a fact often missed when we concentrate just on foreign-produced stuff that we buy.

It is also a net exporter of food (importing less than 15% of what we consume).

Yes but the trade agreements are exceptionally lopsided

[Villages Kahuna]

We do a great job of producing disagreement among and between ourselves.

[Girlcopper]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

FYI, a lot of clothing is labeled as "Made in USA" in violation of the FTC rules. If the clothing fabric was imported, which most of it is, the clothing should be labeled "Made in USA with imported fabric".

Serious? How about made in America with imported fabric from special cotton planted in special soil that flew here on a foreign based plane. Otherwise, who cares where the fabric is from. The product is made in the USA. Cant have everything

[Williewh]

LMAO but so right

[Luggage]

Macro economics. Money goes where it is most efficiently used . Consumers look at price first . Don't you buy the cheapest gasoline. Did you buy the most expensive home even though others were less? When you shop for food do you compare prices? Many consumer goods are not made in America, many industrial items are like tractors, but even those companies understand you need today to spread factories to their buyers . I could go on , but it then becomes a book

[Luggage]

P.s. we make a huge quantity of entertainment here in USA ( movies and music) that is sold worldwide!!!!