My statistical knowledge is about 10 yrs out of date. At that time, their failure rate was around 3 per cent. My knowledge of their economic success comes from a BBC documentary in which an economist from the London School of Economics compared the productive efficiency of a $ of capital in Mondragon compared to ??? (the statistical average in a capitalist corporation?) and found Mondragon more effective.
All that work is outdated because it was done prior to Mondragon's globalization.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

There's a book called 'The Progress Paradox' that deals with this phenomenon.
The secret to happiness is to make all comparisons of your own lifestyle to a previous generation and not your own.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I say Amen to that. I have long thought that the service and trade industries were getting a bad rep, so the people who do those jobs are the bottom of the barrel. Ironically those jobs are the least likely to be sent offshore. Thats why I think there will be a turnaround in the status of those occupations.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I know a doctor/landlord from a landlord board that says it's cheaper for him to do his own plumbing than to work in his office and pay the plumber from the proceeds.

It will be interesting to see how many other jobs are exported in the future. I know a fair number of people with spinal problems who are going to Europe for surgery because it is better quality and cheaper.

I was in San Francisco last week, watching a big container ship steam out of the harbor for Asia fully loaded. I got a bizzare flash of all those containers filled with people at desks and in front of machines being exported to the Third World.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13