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Washington Post Special Report: Breakaway Wealth

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Jun 19, 2011.

  1. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    I believe New Balance shoes are still asssembled in the US; not sure about Sauconys. They are certainly the equal of Nike's, and often cost less.

    Asd far as GM's pension/health benefits, why shouldn't the surviving workers who, in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s, made GM one of the most successful companies in the world, and made its executives and stockholders millions and millions of dollars, also share the rewards for their work?
     
  2. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    I don't necessarily think they shouldn't. But the wingnuts screaming about jobs being outsourced need to understand that this is one of the contributing factors to that issue.

    It costs more to make things here because we rightly demand that we provide our workforce with a safer environment, health care, retirement benefits, etc. That means things that are made here cost more.

    If the average consumer is given the choice between a $200 widget built in Fort Wayne and a $75 widget, built in Shanghai he/she is going to buy the $75 widget more often than not and not worry too much about where it's made.
     
  3. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    I do find it odd that my Republican friends are, ironically, very critical of how baseball operates vs. football. Baseball is the closest thing to a free market among the Big Four sports, since the other three have hard or soft caps. I'm not sure if this is just a trait among them though, or something that holds across the spectrum.
     
  4. Big Circus

    Big Circus Well-Known Member

    I've posted this before, and it's definitely outside the Big Four, but it might be worthwhile for you to mention: European soccer. Hell, soccer anywhere outside the U.S. (no other drafts as far as I know). There's your true athletic free market.
     
  5. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Not Republicans who are also Yankee fans. :)

    Maybe more Republicans live in small markets.
     
  6. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    To your first answer: More jobs back in this country means higher wages, because there would mean more competition for workers.

    Like I said earlier, instead of having someone making minimum wage at McDonalds, they'd be working for twice or three-times as much at a factory. And the computers' price would go as high as the market dictates. Someone making $15 an hour might be more willing to spend $500 on a computer than someone making $7.50 an hour willing to spend $250.

    In 1985, the Air Jordan shoe made by Nike was $65 (About $130 in today's prices). That was their most expensive shoe.

    Today, looking on the Nike site, they have an Air Jordan III retro shoe. For $199. Nearly $70 more.

    In other words, they are continually raising prices anyways, even with having workers overseas being paid very little.

    To your second point, "Innovate" is just another one of those buzzwords thrown around when there isn't a solution to be found.
     
  7. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    I think it's that people who are obsessed with baseball are nerds, regardless of political affiliation.
     
  8. JonnyD

    JonnyD Member

    That's just imagining that inflation is wealth gain. You might as well have everyone take a magic marker and put an extra 0 at the end of all their bills and say that we are now 10 times richer.

    Making things in a less efficient way means there's less stuff to go around. You can fiddle with the numbers all you like, but what matters is the stuff.

    Innovation is the *only* solution to be found. There are two ways to gain wealth as a society: innovation or the exploitation of natural resources. And we're running out of new land.

    Also, I'm not sure a luxury item is really the best place to look.
     
  9. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Fair Trade is part of the solution. Innovation is part of the solution. Consumer education is part of the solution.
     
  10. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    On average? On a percentage basis?

    Absolutely.
     
  11. Brooklyn Bridge

    Brooklyn Bridge Well-Known Member

    Some New Balance are made in the U.S., but there are some that are made overseas. I would check the label. The workers at NB love their company and when the plant was destroyed by a fire (in the late 90s?) all the employees donated a portion of their pay to ensure production and a new plant was up in short order. To me, that's what a company is all about. Employers and workers putting out a good product and helping each other out in a time of needs.

    As to the point of cost, it does cost more to produce in the U.S. and I am very careful about where my stuff comes from. You can't avoid it sometimes, but I am willing to pay more for quality made in the U.S. or Canada than some overseas junk that is going to fall apart in 6-12 mos.
     
  12. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    It's more patriotic and better for the environment to purchase locally produced goods whenever possible. I wish people would consider those two things more often.
     
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