Ok this is not a troll thread im genuinely curious about this and have been for a long time. Havnt been able to find much on the net about it. In light of all of americas current problems, the underlying factor is primarily jobs, especially in areas like mine. There simply are none, just big empty buildings where jobs used to be. I have done my research enough to know that the majority of our current social problems stim from lack of jobs and a general sense of hopelessness and fear amongst Americans. If the economy and job market was booming there is no way trump would be leading. Hes the right guy for a very angry and worried country. So my question is, why will the gov not transition over to drastically reducing foreign imports and invest heavily in getting buisinesses and factories etc. going here? More jobs equals more money equals happier people all around right? For instance why are all our toys made in China? Can we not make toy factories here? I know the answer has something to do with someones pockets getting lined from all the free trade, but when do they draw the line and is it even possible at this point? I know things can be made much cheaper in terms of labor in other countrues but why can our government not just say, you wanna mover your buisiness to mexico thats fine, but your not selling your product here.
Can USA produce McDonald's toys as cheap as China? No hence they are produced in China. Labor is more expensive in rich countries so even with shipping costs it's cheaper to import which is why it's done. It's easy to say produce more in the country but to do it and still remain competitive is another thing.
Im not talking about on an international level, or competing with selling product to other countries. Im talking about producing what we buy in the u.s. We are the worlds largest consumers so the market is here lol. Why not make the crap people are buying here. Im not worried about exporting
Its the same thing..... Unless you want your Mc. Donald's toy to cost 15$ you would have to make them outside of the u.s
I feel your entire thread could have been simplified. Something like... "Hey guys, let's talk about politics again because everyone loves politics. Anyways, what's with all these jobs going overseas? Huh? AMIRITE? LEL tough crowd." Anyway, it's because wages are cheaper overseas.
Alright i get that, ty for the reply. So when does it end? When there are only fast food jobs available? guess were on a fast track to the very rich and the very poor. Do any of you think its reversible at this point? I mean politicians all pander about bringing jobs back to the U.S. Is that even possible? Dont think ive heard one politician give a sound plan of how to do this, they just say their going to do it. Trumps plan of implementing outrageous taxes on businesses that leave to import back here sounds good but that seems it would just make everything sky high for the consumer, right? For instance nabisco is building its first non U.S. Plant in mexico next year, a huge slap in the face to the U.S. If you triple their tax to import goods back here that suddenly makes a pack of oreos $13. People stop buying them, does his import tax sound like it would work?
America is still 2nd only to China in manufacturing and one of the leading business nations in the world if not the the leader so i don't think adding a few more local products is going to help enough to make the government think investment in business, where there is more than enough already coming in privately, will help alot more...i think overpopulation and immigration without adequate resources to manage them is a much larger problem in American society today & why people like trump are getting large numbers in the polls
I think kezzer got it more or less spot on. I'd like to add that there is also reciprocity, places like China and Mexico are also big consumer markets. So while jobs are shipped overseas for the lower end manufacturing based jobs, there should be a restructure in the economy towards enabling the higher end products/manufacturing/R&D. Eg. China needs cars, planes, tech products that US is producing. Lowering tax barriers spurs growth on both sides, its technically win win. It's already happening - US is leading the world in innovation etc just that not everyone is reaping the benefits (only a privileged 1%). That's where government and taxation comes in (some level of wealth redistribution that is incumbent on a capitalistic economy). The current economic situation is also worsened by the low oil prices. Yes - there is a direct impact on investor confidence. No consumer would complain about it but its dragging the mood down. Less investment means less willingness for companies to expand their business and create jobs. One last thing - US is actually faring much better than the rest of the world (just look at UK). The US$ is very strong and it reflects the state of US economy vs rest of the world.
Pretty much all of the uk's currency problems stem from uncertainty over its membership of the EU, and it's impending referendum. at this point in time the Uk £ is a very bad reference to use.
Because us Americans are greedy we want it all to ourselves. Its cheaper to build over seas with the labor and material cost. When you build over seas you don't have to pay taxes to build over there! So there many factors you've gotta worry about.
To understand why your proposal is such a bad idea look at the Wikipedia articles "Great Depression", and the "Smoot Hawley Tariff Act". Our cities became greatly expanded because of industrialisation and the concentration of manufacturing industries. Cities are now declining because those traditional jobs are fading away, and education systems are failing to equip students with marketable skills in a heavily service-based economy. New businesses set up in areas where there is an available pool of workers with the skills needed, and this results in clusters of new industries and an internal migration of workers to those areas. You're lucky that the international currency for oil trading is USD; everyone else has to bear currency conversion costs that makes oil slightly more expensive for them.
Ty for the awesome replies. Some of them really did give me a better understanding of the current economic situation. But what about the second part of my question, where and how does it end? Do we continue down this trend of entry level work going away? Will we just not have a working class in 20 years? Many say well those people need to go to college and get a better job. Come on now i know plenty of people with college degrees that cant get a job. And if were still leading in the innovation and tech fields thats awesome, but there are only so many jobs in those fields, not enough to compensate for the rapid job loss were experiencing. I know the news likes to feed us that obabma has added thousands of jobs amd unemployment is down. Im not sure what states this is happening in but in my tri state area its definately not. And Obama critics will quickly tell you that unemployment is down bc so many have drawn it to the max of their extensions and have lost it. Not bc they found work. So ya, we get why jobs arnt staying here but where do you all predict this leads? Is there a solution im missing or is the working/lower mid class as screwed as it seems?
And id like to add these people make up the majority of our population. So its no small deal if this huge part of our populace ends up in the poor bracket. Crime will soar and social problems will as well.
The government can't tell non-government companies how to do business. It's the companies and corporate bimbos worrying too much about themselves first. Understandably whatever they're doing makes them money and that's their decision, but they don't acknowledge that if they would only cut their paycheck a little bit, America would be in a much better place.
It's to do with the pay workers expect. In China the average wage for factory work is much lower than the average pay for an Anerican factory worker. There is also child labour in China...
I would have thought the reason behind jobs moving from the u.s to over seas would be a direct link between the u.s government that is pushing for more regulation laws for example Coal burning plants have to reinvest millions of dollars for scrubbers on the stacks which in turn reduces toxic air because of climate change which is not accurate at all But here we are in 2016 the ocean waters have risen 2 degrees since the 1800 ice accumulation is still happening in the north and south poles And the u.s government is pushing for more imports over exports why that is happening is because you can buy a politician cheaper than you could a hooker
America could be much better than our politicians realize. Yes, it's important to have good relations with other countries, but do we need to give them jobs to send their children to work? No Do those countries Adults need to get off their asses and fight to make their country better for their own children? Yes Do other countries need to stop relying on the US to help them? Yes The US would be unstoppable if our military was stationed in the US, protecting our borders and rounding up illegals. They say we can't do that because of Christian values, when Christians are not persecuted is when we live by Christian values. Right now the US is not thriving from Christian values, I'm not sure it's thriving at all with BObama in there, he's definitely not a Christian, his wife doesn't like white people and both of them are the Jeffersons of the US. Look it up if you don't know who the Jeffersons are. There are thousands in the US everyday who move out of the cities to live a self sustained life. It's a fabulous plan, take care of yourself because the government won't. Arm yourself and learn personal protection.
Ppl buy what's cheapest and the government has stayed out of it a bit cheapest is imports that's what it comes down to its the people of the usa that choice this road
The short answer to your question is: because corruption has allowed corporations to control our government. Reductions in job growth and real wage stagnation started in the 80s. That's about the time that the Reagan administration started cracking down on labor unions. That was quickly followed by international trade deals that lowered or eliminated tariffs (taxes) on imported goods. This marked the strongest corporate assault on labor wages in the history of our country. The free trade agreements allowed companies to import goods for free. When that happened, that was the moment when Americans had to compete for wages directly with people in 3rd world countries. Ever since then, there has been no growth in real wages, and the income distribution gap began growing exponentially. Today, we see the consequences as a declining middle class, the 99% movement, and increasing poverty and homelessness. Overseas, workers have enjoyed the highest standards of living and a burgeoning middle class. Basically, we can not bring manufacturing back until we get rid of free trade agreements. Free trade agreements are at the core of the crumbling wage and job markets. I could go on about this till you beg for me to stop, but I'll just leave it at that.
Actually, China blocks most of our imports and presses it's local economy to manufacture its own goods internally. For example, it is illegal to import used electronics in China. Additionally, there's a huge trade deficit. Many supporters of free trade agreements have used your argument about it being a win win, but really, the Chinese have won, and the average American has lost everything meaningful in terms of employment and prosperity.