China Makes Crap

Buy American? If you can find anything in the store made by an American, it would be helpful.

I fear we need to look at the way we have structured our economy. Our tax system, for example, encourages a focus on short term profits and spendthrift consumerism.

Anyway, after WW II, the Japanese acquired a similar reputation for shoddy work. They fixed the problem by focusing on quality. They even hired American quality control experts. The rest is history.

Yes, you are right, but we have to start somewhere. A popular movement against Chinese imports might inspire some American businesses to give it another go. Other things will have to be done, of course.

Joe, I agree we should start making more things here. Although China just executed their Food & Drug person, I'm not sure it will get better all that quickly.

The question is; How do we encourage manufacturing here when businesses use other countries for cheap labor?

It's complicated, I agree. Withdraw from NAFTA, for starters? I think we need some type of revolution to actually get there but some boycotts would help build momentum.

it's like this: Western economies have pretty much outgrown manufacturing. Once upon a time %70 of the population was in agriculture, now it's %2. We used to have big textile factories in the 1800s, then we moved into production of more tech-driven machinery like cars. Now we produce ideas, other countries build the stuff (for example: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

this is a typical progression of a capitalist economy. Europe, Japan also moved from ag. to text. to manufac. to tech.

as more countries move up the ladder, others move in to fill the gap they leave and along the way, and the world becomes more integrated.

You want a revolution? this is a revolution! China is racing down the trail we helped blaze. What are we going to do about it; step up and move boldly into the uncharted waters of the future, or freak out and try to reverse the flow of history?

Which stage of progress is it when you import poison toothpaste?

Puffalump, I have to disagree with you. Our manufacturing output is NOT going down, but progressing quite nicely: http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/blsin/inu0002us0

Furthermore, our manufacturing output has a POSITIVE correlation to our imports: http://www.freetrade.org/node/91

Essentially, the more we make, the more we can afford to import things.

The problem is that our output is not progressing as fast as our productivity, so we need fewer people working in the manufacturing jobs. That makes it look like our manufacturing industries are dying, when in fact they are just becoming more efficient, so people are getting laid off in those industries.

As you rightly point out, it happened in farming, too. We now produce far more food than we used to, but with fewer farmers.

OK, that's what I meant, that jobs in manufacturing are declining...