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Cato Institute perspective on trade, labor, and the middle class
- Thread starter 45Badger
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![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
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That article seems to be saying "hey, stop complaining, real wages went up 39% if you go back to start in 1964". Not really that exciting for people
who entered the workforce decades after 1964.
who entered the workforce decades after 1964.
June4th
NES Member
I'll paraphrase an article I read on Times or Newsweek in early 90s. The author, a Brit, had a depressed view that Rolls-Royce was acquired by BMW. It was the last of British industrial prestige. And he reminisced that the Battle of London was really the duel between RR and BMW, when Spitfire guarded the city against Messerschmitt. His conclusion: you can have your bankers and your shopkeepers, but to win wars, you need to be able to MAKE STUFF.
And it’s not enough to only make high-valued stuff, contrary to the globalists. You stop making nails because that’s low, and then you stop making sockets, and then you stop making milling machines, and before long, you have GM making face masks at 5% efficiency and 5x the costs when a pandemic hits because you don’t have even the tooling and skilled labor to make the tools to make masks. Look at the video on YouTube, it’s pathetic, but it’s a wake-up call.
I was not in favor of the mask mandate, but simply use it as an example, that for a country as large and powerful as the US, we need the capacity and capability to make stuff big and small. It’s not a luxury, it’s a survival imperative.
China’s success was that they built the entire value-and-supply-chain in the last few decades: if you want to make anything, you can turn prototype to products from 40 suppliers within 50 miles radius. It’s gonna be long and hard for US to rebuild a manufacturing base, but we have to.
And it’s not enough to only make high-valued stuff, contrary to the globalists. You stop making nails because that’s low, and then you stop making sockets, and then you stop making milling machines, and before long, you have GM making face masks at 5% efficiency and 5x the costs when a pandemic hits because you don’t have even the tooling and skilled labor to make the tools to make masks. Look at the video on YouTube, it’s pathetic, but it’s a wake-up call.
I was not in favor of the mask mandate, but simply use it as an example, that for a country as large and powerful as the US, we need the capacity and capability to make stuff big and small. It’s not a luxury, it’s a survival imperative.
China’s success was that they built the entire value-and-supply-chain in the last few decades: if you want to make anything, you can turn prototype to products from 40 suppliers within 50 miles radius. It’s gonna be long and hard for US to rebuild a manufacturing base, but we have to.
My only issue with our deteriorating manufacturing base is defense industry. We need more capacity and capability to make things like ships, submarines, planes, drones, artillery, miss lies, bullets and bombs. Our politics (Jones act, port unions, etc.) screw that up more than free trade. Coherent and efficient defense spending should override the squabbles around jobs and weapons platforms. Rather than blow up the economy over underwear and sheets made in Asia or car components made in Mexico/Canada I think we should directly invest in defense industry capability and capacity. It would be much more direct and accountable and probably cheaper. Both parties need to focus on this more than social drama like trans rights or DEI.
Yeah, screw being able to make medicine and other important components of daily life here. Let's only make sure we can always kill people in foreign lands with made in USA weapons. There is so much more needed than the defense industry for true national security, which was clearly shown during COVID.
HARRYM
NES Member
Rocky was a heck of a good boot back in the day. Then they started making a lot of boots in China. Same retail price in the USA as the Ohio made ones so no savings. It got to the point where if I hunted all day with the stalker model.....and the entire sole didn't fall off.....I felt lucky.
One of the guys said something about "America spent last 7 or 8 decades on 'trade opening', and now that has been reversed." It has not been reversed, but it is just now being attempted to be equalized. We have been on the bad end of tariffs all this time, and have been able to ride it out on a downward slope. We've hit bottom and need to fix it.
We have the ability. It’s cheaper to have it done overseas. That gives us the ability or freedom to spend our $$ on other things we want. Our food is incredibly cheaper than the rest of the world. We had a strike when eggs blew up. What will we do when underwear costs $22 a pair? Go commando?
If you want to buy American made everything- do it. I prefer the choice vs having big bro or sis limiting my choices.
We scream like little bitches and pound our patriotic chests when Dems do this shit. They will have more chances to do their thing every two years. At this rate, they will neuter Trump in 26 and win presidency (again) with maga and cost/inflation fatigue.
if the United States needs a product or good in order to exist, and that good or product is not made in the United States, that means we are relying on other countries for our survival. In times of peace sure it's great to have China making all our electronics. If we go to war with China we are screwed
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This.
National security is about so much more than a strong military.
Look at the drug shortages during COVID because we couldn't get them from India and China. This discussion has nothing to do with underwear.
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