Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisJumbo
Many stores sell products that aren't all made in the USA. And those stores employ Americans. So what happens to those people and those stores.
Without some real change in how the Gov't handles imports, many American Made products can't compete (large [Cars] and small [toys]).
The companies wanting to do business with us would have to some sort-of fair wage tax. However, that would raise the price we pay, and thus we would be affording less.
People making large sums of money also buy luxory producuts. Are those needed, no. But revenue is generated by purchasing them.
The problem with setting a # on wages, is who gets to decide. Just because you made $1MM this year doesn't mean you earned that last year or will next year. How about sports starts, should we limit their salaries? How about internet gurus that send me emails about making $50K a day, should they be limited to only 10K a day? Are you only proposing going after publicly traded companies, so a business owner that doesn't employ anyone and keeps all of the dough to himself is off the hook? So does that mean we can't use Google, Yahoo, MSN, Amazon, etc.?
Sounds like a slippery slope.
I think doing your best with what you have is all that we can be asked. I try to leave larger tips at restuarants. I support local places more than chains, but remember, the chains are employing people to.
If you can extend credit to folks, do it. If you can extend special offers do it. Just do your best to think of others as you make your decisions.
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I agree we should not be limiting people
s salaries. That's not a solution.
But if you work for a firm and have to make some purchasing decisions based on a few cents difference then to use the old parable ... you are being penny wise and pound foolish.
It is actually cheaper now to do production of many items here in the states and locally then abroad because of transportation costs, Yes oil prices came down but NONE of the transportation companies like Conway, Yellow, UPS, the US Postal Services, G.O.D., B.A.X or any of the other big carriers actually lowered their rates back down.
Isn't the rachet effect of economics wonderful.
4 examples of why you should be having a more close to home focus on supporting production:
1) Steel used to inexpensive here in the states and well made. We closed our mills because of cheap imports and now that the imports have ski-rocketed in cost, domestic steel is no longer available! Why because people were penny wise and pound foolish.
2) TJ Max/Home goods advertises that they sell below retail stores because of over production by a designer. What is really happening is they are picking the bones of businesses in distress. I know because I have done business with them before and even after agreeing to additional charges for reboxing, they disavowed what went on after the fact and did not pay the modified invoices for 10s of thosands of dollars.
3) Toys are no longer cheap coming out of china because of the crack down on pollution, and we all know that Japan and Korea don't have Anti-Trust legislation related to large scale home based manufacture and subsidize the development across industries.
4) By the way it is better for the global enviornment because of the carbon foot print for transportation of goods is smaller.
Yes I know that TJ Max, Home Depot, and Walmart are US companies that hire US employees. But they do it after devasting a local ecomony.
Have you ever been in a Home Depot in most cities looking for a simple filter for a HLVP cup spray gun (a 5 cent piece). You can't get them, in fact you can't even buy the cup, they expect you to buy a whole gun $65. Why can they do this? Because they knocked out all the local competition and then didn't sell enough a month and dropped the product.
Now you can't get things like Metal Stainless Steel Wire, Plexiglass, fixings for 4 inch PVC Pipe, filters for paint, round wood dowels, and sheets of laminate if the local Home Depot in the past did not make a sales goal of that product in a particular month.
Which means your wasting time on a 3 minute purchase going to the internet to buy something that you need to waste days and pay an exorbinate amount in shipping and time.
That type of mass commercialism while employing minimum wagers, in the end does not help the economy.
By the way I use the smaller local food chains, health food stores, and try to purchase from the small local retailer whenever feasible everything from palletts, bubble wrap to compatiable ink catridges made in pa. for my international brand office printer.
Guess what it helps....