Phydeaux
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MrRodgers
quote:
ORIGINAL: Phydeaux
Not so. Unionized labor jobs are unable to compete with foreigners. That would be true with free trade agreements, or without them. What is true is that most of the remaining fortune 500 companies are
Tech companies, starting in silicon valley or Boston
Health care companies - cincinatti
Financial services - NY
But most of the rest of them - where the US can compete due to lower wages and higher productivity are in non union states. This is why boeing moved its production to south carolina, and considers moving its hq.
What's not so ? American policy leaders didn't make a conscience decision to have a profit-leading-society over an industrial and standard-of-living leading society ? That's exactly what has happened and was put into full force under Reagan whose goal was to destroy the whole concept of unionized labor.
Once the repubs left the progressive side economics pre and post WWI, who up until then, supported protecting all of industry...labor included and then after WWII, decided to partner with the industrial/banking/corporate elites, the writing was on the wall. If Americans wanted to work, they had to start down the path of becoming as poor as foreign workers.
The purest example was/is Japan. The US became the no. 1 economy with a standard of living always in the top 5 usually in the top 3. Whereas Japan for at least 30 post war years learned the trick right away, having the no. 2 economy while providing during the 80's, as low as the 24th standard of living.
Per various charts now, the US rank has fallen to 12th in standard of living while Japan is actually up to 16th after falling to the 3rd largest econ. Even Adam Smith advised that states (Britain in particular) should protect its industrial base. But then when it comes to historical economic and market advise, we cherry-pick what we wish to learn...now don't we ?
Interesting GDP vs family income chart. While GDP had soared, incomes have plunged. HERE
Look mate,
China is proof that it is far easier to follow what others have done, than it is to blaze new trails. Cheap labor allowed them to capture the steel market. They have the solar panel market, the textiles market.
It is certainly true that you and I learned different lessons from Japan.
Lessons I think you can learn from Japan:
1. Cheap labor killed the US automarket.
2. Investing in science is better than investing in a social safety net. A prospering economy forms its own safety net.
Here's your essential problem: Trade barriers are reciprocl. You put barriers up - so will china. China has a bigger potential market. They will grow and protect their auto market - and then have the economy of scale to out compete an US maker - no matter what tariffs you put up.
This was essentially what happened to GM. Right after WWII - we had the dominant automanufacturer in the world. Our labor rates went up - and national car companies started capturing their local markets. After that - they started competing in our market. GM vehicles (pre bankruptcy) were 4000 more expensive feature for feature - than foreign makers.
You drew the wrong lesson from Adam Smith. What you should have drawn was that eventually market forces always win.
Of course our standard of living has dropped - americans lost 25% of their income and a bit more of their networth AFTER he recession under O. Wrong policies have consequences.
Our wrong policies include: government loans for libert arts, law degrees - as opposed to engineering and sciences. Confiscatory capital gains and income taxes. Government intervention in (and control of) 25% of the economy. The list goes on.
The prescription for fixing these is pretty simple. Pay off the debt.
Get rid of government regulations that means it takes 10 years to site a nuclear plant. (or a refinery. or a desalination plant.. or a ...)
Trim government by 22%.
Pass a law that any regulation not used to prosecute a citizen or company in a year can be challenged by any citizen or business and overturned.
Pass a flat tax.
Build a wall. Illegal immigrants depress wages for the poorest americans by 11% and cut jobs by 30%.
Cut 1/3 of all military bases. Get rid of 1/2 of all military people over the rank of captain.
Cut all government salaries by 30% - similar to the losses americans in the private sector suffered.
Make legal immigration easier, for people that have useful skills.
Eliminate government unions - make government employees serve the citizens not democrats, or unions.
End corporate handouts - such as solar, oil. These are just excuses for cronyism.
Enforce workfare - ie., if you need a govt hand up - thats fine. Be prepared to pick fruit, clean streets, or tutor children in return.
Longer term:
Pass legislation requiring a slowly incrementing recycling percentage.
Change higher education from a loan program to a shared profit model.
Have better vocational training.
Institute lead paint cleanup.
Prison reform. We need better options than prison.
Break up large corporations. This will encourage them to insource to the states.
I could go on.
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