Any tools still made in the USA?

[George]

My FiL wouldn't even eat rice after three invasions out in the islands.

[Dez Akin]

If we can't do it cheaper, why should we do it? Comparative advantage makes us all wealthier, so we should import steel from those who make it cheaper, and enrich our manufacturing industries. Protecting one industry just hurts another, and often by more than you help your protectorate.

[Michael Daly]

The Europeans were doing little on pollution control. American and Canadian standards are still ahead of Europeans on clean air. No, Congress isn't capable of thinking - but the lobbyists were able to get them to enact the regulations. Environmentalists on clean air and fuel economy, insurance companies on collision costs and safety.

I didn't say crumple and absorb energy, I said disintegrate. Cars used to fall apart in a collision and leave the passengers to fend for themselves. Now we have collision energy absorption, reinforced passenger compartments, some roll-over strength etc. Most of that was imposed on Detroit, not done willingly. Light trucks are exempt from this and are not so readily equipped, nor do they stand up to collisions as well as one might expect given there considerable mass.

Mike

[Andy Dingley]

My mountain bike is 6 years old now. Chinese titanium, and a beautiful piece of work. If there's a call for it, China can deliver real quality.

BT W - Take a look at the recent prices for Chinese art; genuine stuff, not export trade or modern tat. A vase sold recently (New York ?) for $300K,to a Chinese eel farmer. There's money in China now, and they're wanting their heritage back.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[Brian Henderson]

No, it's upper management. Here, they're all making millions of dollars and so long as the company doesn't go out of business (and in some cases, they don't care if it does), they'll go as cheaply and simply as they can.

In Japan, they want a quality product and manufacturers often go above and beyond the call of duty to give it to them.

[Brian Henderson]

I've had other American cars. 100% crap so far. I've had GM, Ford, Chevy and Cadillac. Not one has compared to that Toyota. Granted, I have a friend who has a '67 Dodge Dart that is still running (sort of), but of any car built in the last 25-30 years, I won't touch another American car until things change radically in the US automotive industry.

[Brian Henderson]

Since most 'foreign' cars are built in the US by US workers, I don't have to worry about it. It's the design and management that makes the difference. US auto makers want to crank out cheap crap at inflated prices. Foreign auto makers produce quality cars at reasonable prices. Which one should I choose? Planned obsolescence in 3 years? A company that wastes millions to make their car SOUND powerful? Or a reliable, well-built, well-designed car that will go as far as I need it to without breaking the bank?

[Brian Henderson]

The cost of living is much, much lower in China. It just doesn't cost nearly as much to live there as it does here, that's why they can afford to live on a much lower wage.

Maybe instead of complaining about how little they get paid there, we should be more worried about why it costs so much to live here?

[Lee Michaels]

Which is the ultimate irony.

Mao destroyed billions of dollars worth of chinese antiquities in his "cultrual revolution". He felt that all those old things would restrict their movement into a modern communist state. If he had not destroyed all these precious artifacts, China would have untold wealth available to itself.

No idea what they would spend it on though. Probably weapons.

[Phisherman]

We just spent 87 billion dollars of our tax dollars on nothing.

[JackD]

I thought we spent it on plywood?

-Jack

[JackD]

That's ok, a billion doesn't go that far anymore anyway. Haven't seen the Queen pawning the crown jewels either...

-Jack

[Larry Jaques]

On 11 Nov 2003 14:55:04 GMT, [e-mail] (Eric G.) brought forth from the murky depths:

-snip-

One word explanation: AUTOMATION.

A friend of mine is automating small companies along the California I-78 corridor and estimates that the companies he works for are removing between 4 and 12 people/jobs per line he installs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

• Scattered Showers My Ass! * Insightful Advertising Copy

• --Noah *

[jo4hn]

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

I have a company-provided 2001 Chevy Cavalier LS that GM should have been ashamed to sell. What a complete piece of garbage. We have a fleet of them, in addition to some Malibus, and as each set of cars hits certain mileage numbers, say 10k, 20k, etc... It's really neat watching them all fail in identical ways. It's almost like watching a Consumer Reports reliability survey live!

FWIW, the Cavalier rates "poor" in frontal-offset crashes, and we're in a downsizing mode, so maybe they choose them for a reason.

Barry

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

Habanero?

My Giant VT-1, a $3000 aluminum Chinese made mountain bike is excellent!

Barry

[Frank Shute]

Sure but from what I read the number is growing.

It won't go entirely, it will just downsize. To buy things from abroad to meet demand, you're already expanding the national debt ie. borrowing from foreigners.

Eventually foreigners will suspect that you can't service that debt/your economy is in trouble and stop buying treasury bonds. I don't expect the US will end up a basket-case like Argentina though ;) Expect further devaluation of the dollar and a medium to long term rise in unemployment.

What worries me is social anarchy in the US. The imbalance between rich & poor seems set to widen, yet you can't keep a lid on that forever by just throwing the dispossessed into prison when they try and restore some balance by wielding their 45s.

If I lived in the US, I'd be looking to sell up & move abroad whilst the going is fairly good & the dollar is still worth something.

[Frank Shute]

I've got a theory that the more a car manufacturer spends on advertising the more useless their cars are. In the UK Ford is at the top of the heap in terms of advertising! (....and producing useless cars IMHO)

BTW, Ford did a study on the effects of customer disatisfaction some years ago and they found that on average a pissed off customer would tell 8 potential customers that they were pissed off with Ford. That ratio must have increased vastly since the dawn of the Internet.

Ford are going to go bust, it's just a matter of time. They've been palming off over-priced sh*te on customers for too many years.

It's unbelievable that a company that pioneered in a variety of areas of manufacturing (including quality control!) should go down the toilet.

BTW, I own a Nissan (built in the UK - the Japs send their engineers abroad to sort things out though) & I couldn't be happier with it.

[Mark Jerde]

Henry's been dead & gone too long.

I wonder what Walt Disney would think of what the empire using his name is doing.

-- Mark

[Mark Jerde]

The style I like use contrasting material for the "vee" and the bottom of the "bell." Haven't seen any of those since "Mod Squad" reruns were taken off...

Sorry sir, I disagree. Some of my favorite memories of high school (in the 1970's) involve hip huggers. ;-)

-- Mark