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View Full Version : Made in America.....


MamaM
2-1-13, 2:51pm
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/made-in-america--stayed-in-america--195200450.html
SteveinMN
2-1-13, 4:54pm
It (figuratively) kills me to hear company CEOs claim they can't price a product competitively without what Americans would consider "slave labor". These folks claim differently. Tim Cook at Apple has mentioned bringing one of their product lines back to the U.S. (almost assuredly a higher-margin non-portable computer) and keeping the price not far from where it is now. GE is bringing back at least one appliance line to Kentucky.

The key difference I see is that the CEOs keeping manufacturing in the U.S. have looked -- closely -- at the expenses of setting up new facilities, shipping materials and products halfway around the world, and at the actual product being delivered from outside the U.S. Many of them are realizing you get just what you pay for.
Lainey
2-2-13, 2:53pm
that's what I hear too, SteveinMN. The shipping/transportation costs are the differentiator, or will be soon, even more so than labor costs.
redfox
2-2-13, 3:51pm
Me too. One of the reasons I shop at Goodwill -- the money goes back directly into my community. I try to buy American made as much as I can. Sadly, the main exception is cars. I am a dedicated Toyota purchaser, though always used.
ToomuchStuff
2-2-13, 4:41pm
Me too. One of the reasons I shop at Goodwill -- the money goes back directly into my community. I try to buy American made as much as I can. Sadly, the main exception is cars. I am a dedicated Toyota purchaser, though always used.

Can you tell me of a New American car?
I know of lots of cars, from global companies, who get parts from everywhere, just not of American ones. Makes a hot rod seem both green and more likely American made.
MamaM
2-2-13, 5:08pm
I like the idea of a hot rod... : )
SteveinMN
2-2-13, 5:51pm
that's what I hear too, SteveinMN. The shipping/transportation costs are the differentiator, or will be soon, even more so than labor costs.
Well, that and figuring out if the product coming from overseas is exactly what would be build Stateside. As an example, I have seen IT departments all over the U.S. realize that the "identical" programming they get from their Indian and Chinese "co-sourcing partners" is not identical to what their American or European peers create. Original application writing that I've seen from eastern Asia, especially, is devoid of ingenuity and efficiency. It adheres to the spec, but no one ever asks what to do when the spec is ambiguous. And the rest of the code is written according to a process to an exceptional degree. Some large organizations value that highly. In fact, they value following the process more than they value having something usable at the end. So you're paying less than you would for programmers outside of Asia -- but you're not getting the same thing, either. It's like marveling that the 15 color copies you made of the original Mona Lisa are "identical" and applauding their low cost. So where does the next Mona Lisa come from?
dado potato
2-3-13, 2:26am
I drive a Jeep, and any time I drive by the plant where it was assembled I make sure to honk the horn.

Closer to home, I'd rather buy things in my little hometown, supporting local employment, than drive an hour to the nearest WalMart. I am sure I pay higher prices here than I would at WMT. But I feel good about looking my neighbors in the eye.