Chinese made washers worth more than US coins
 

We are close to the point, or past it, that washers made in china are worth more than the same sized coin made in the US. By the time you pay to drive to Lowes to buy the washer you would be better off to drill a hole in a coin and use it instead.

Your vote is worth nothing and your money is worth nothing. Go wave a flag. Don't forget to vote.

At least we can thank the industrious Chinese for delaying that point. If the washers had been US made, just imagine. We probably might as well outsource the US Mint to them.

I thought you were talking about washing machines .

Yeah, I identify with your frustration . We are d***less.

Isn't defacing American money illegal?

It sure is, and the men in the helicopters can see thru your pants to see if you're carrying any defaced coins.:eek:

Imagine what American made washers would be worth. Especially since the metal used to make a penny, now costs the US government more than a penny.

Which says much considering the quality of Chinese metalurgy.

- Peter.

I don't make a special trip to the store for washers. And I'm not into wearing out drill bits and blowing a dollar or two of my time to made a bad replica of something that costs a few pennies.

That is the point, a washer that did cost a few pennies now costs almost a quarter.

Cost so much to drive and the stores are all corporate and built in monstrous traffic cluster flucks that even to go out your way is too much.

Do it yourself is not cheap or convenient anymore.

If you oil your drill bits and don't spin them too fast they don't get dull. Only takes a second to punch though a coin. I agree, it's still not worth it.

I don't accept that it is too expensive to make anything here. It is only so because big money pays their lobbyists to make it so. They don't want competition, producers, they want consumers.

Regardless of what you will or will not accept, this is what it boils down to. COST OF LABOR. One of the things I export is Distillers Dried Grain. A waste product from making Ethanol out of corn.

I can have it bagged into 55lbs bags, sewn up, stacked into a 40 foot container, shipped to Nam for WAY MORE than it cost me to send it on a truck for transloading in bulk into a 40 foot container and have several guys with a few shovels and scale and a sewing machine do it overseas. What are you worth an hour? I'd say a lot less than a guy over in China or Nam a day. Why should I pay more? I am only talking raw wages here. It adds up more when you say that I can simply dump what I want into the Yangtze River and here, I have to contend with the EPA.

Way oversimplified but yes labor arbitrage is part of the game.

Yes it is a simplified example but in it is a huge part of the manufacturing game. Lets also not forget the environmental issues. IF it were me, I'd build my factory in remote China simply because I can bribe the officials to look the other way while I dump waste into the rivers not to mention bribing the officials to make favorable conditions for me. Over say 20 years, the money can add up. I can construct a factory cheaper there than here. I have less safety concerns since life is cheap. How many more ways and $$ do you need? Manufacturing is pretty much dead here unless it is some high tech stuff.

life is cheap.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all

I'm not comfy with the supposed conventional wisdom that it's too expensive to manufacture here any more. I'm not expecting world war but if it came, being behind the game in manufacturing might be a problem.

We make fixtures that are lifted up and hung vertically from an overhead crane. To turn them horizontal requires a second crane to be attached to the bottom of the fixture.

We are now at a point where no major facility will allow a mechanic to attach a crane to the bottom of the fixture. He is not permitted to go beneath a hanging load, in case the crane fails at that exact moment.

An expensive, custom stand is required to allow the fixture/engine to be lowered vertically into the stand, and, only then can the crane hook be attached.

Now, there's some expense for you to protect life over here. Imagine the Chinese requiring same...............

My name is Michael Bloomberg. Believe me, my money is worth something and I can influence the results of an election to a much greater degree than if I actually went to vote.

In fact, my financial influence is so great that I can get special dispensation from the city council to override the two term limit for the mayor of the city of New York.

Your vote might be worth nothing and your money is certainly worth nothing (because you don't have any), but mine is significant.