China To Blame For American Workers Layoff? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Rich300TDMBZ · #1 02-09-2006, 03:38 PM

I have looked at the American trade deficit with China with last year swelling to $200 billion. I have friends who were laid off because their jobs were outsourced to India, China, or somewhere overseas. This article from today's New York Times open my eyes a bit that the real profits are made by the companies here. Quote "While China gets the wage benefits of globalization, it does not get to keep the profits of globalization."
There are many heated discussions on this issue on this forum, and others, but it is important not to wholly lay the blame on China. Read the article, and tell me what you think. Is this a bias article towards China? Thanks.

Rich300TDMBZ · #2 02-09-2006, 03:41 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/09/business/worldbusiness/09asia.html

elau · #3 02-09-2006, 07:22 PM

Why? We are a nation of blame. We never take time to look at our problems, but quick to blame our problems on others.

While we said jobs are outsorced, just exactly who are doing the outsourcing? Our own corporate Fatcats. But of course.

oasis100 · #4 02-09-2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elau

Why? We are a nation of blame. We never take time to look at our problems, but quick to blame our problems on others.

While we said jobs are outsorced, just exactly who are doing the outsourcing? Our own corporate Fatcats. But of course.

true say.
It's the corporations who want earnings GROWTH quarter after quarter and year after year to please their sharesholders and those alike. Blaming China is just a dumb a ridiculous thing to say. Products made in China is what keeps inflation low in the USA.

raymr · #5 02-10-2006, 12:05 AM

So everybody should buy shares in these companies that are profiting from Chinese labor. Who are the big players?

elau · #6 02-10-2006, 12:45 AM

If you play the market, then it's me and you. So why the blame? You pocket the money, right?

aklim · #7 02-10-2006, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elau

Why? We are a nation of blame. We never take time to look at our problems, but quick to blame our problems on others.

While we said jobs are outsorced, just exactly who are doing the outsourcing? Our own corporate Fatcats. But of course.

So what is the alternative? Oursource and live or keep it local and die. Look at what is happening to the Big Two. Lets face it. Manufacturing is dead. We cannot compete. No sense in beating a dead horse. Our era of great manufacturing is over. When it takes $1500 more to make a car here than it does in a Japanese factory across the road, you know the business is dead and on life support. So lets let it die with dignity and find something else we can do. If we can't manufacture, lets concentrate on say inventing. Gear our students towards that. Cut out all the crap in their school and make the 3 Rs 80% of their academic load.

elau · #8 02-10-2006, 10:30 AM

Wait a minute here!! I am neutral in this issue. I merely stated that if people are to point fingers to China or India or what have you about our job lost, they should take a hard look at the root cause.

You are shooting the messenger.

softconsult · #9 02-10-2006, 10:54 AM

Response to :

"So what is the alternative? Oursource and live or keep it local and die. Look at what is happening to the Big Two. Lets face it. Manufacturing is dead. We cannot compete. No sense in beating a dead horse. Our era of great manufacturing is over. When it takes $1500 more to make a car here than it does in a Japanese factory across the road, you know the business is dead and on life support."

This is quite a poorly reasoned statement. Manufacturing is dead because
GM and Ford have a problem competing! Yet, the Japanese factory across the street employing American workers, and paying similar wages, can compete. The poster might at least try to think through his apparent contradiction. After all, he is in Madison, Wisconsin. Big university town you know.

If it takes $1500 more than the Japanese plant across the road, why might that be the case? There are many reasons. Here are three that are well known.

Retirement health care costs and employee health care costs. Companies gave away the farm to the unions, and now can't take the benefits away. You've got to scratch your head to understand the logic of unions that price the company to it's demise.

Reason number two factories that can't produce different vehicles on the same line with rapid shift from model to model. Translates to inefficient production.

Finally, they have to produce something that consumers want to buy.
Think, Chrysler 300, for instance.

I'm not saying that we don't have a problem with plant closures. We do, and it directly affects my clients. I just had to react to this silly post.

Steve