What is Digg?159 Comments
- Berkana, on 04/09/2008, -3/+68In all honesty, we've needed a reality check for a long time, and this may be it. We've let artificially cheap foreign manufacturing destroy our own manufacturing capacity, and built up massive trade deficits. If we had been wise about this all along, this might not be as traumatic as it will be with our entire country addicted to cheap stuff from China.
- paker, on 04/09/2008, -2/+30I wonder if something like this could, someday, drive jobs back to America.
- JoeRockEHF, on 04/09/2008, -3/+27Here's a concept...let's start making our own stuff.
- Rotzooi, on 04/09/2008, -3/+20"CAN'T EDIT THAT COMMENT. IT DOESN'T EXIST. RELOAD THE PAGE AND TRY AGAIN."
aaargrghhh - Enron1985, on 04/09/2008, -2/+18This just means its time to look for the next cheap labour hot spot.
- gadgetuk, on 04/09/2008, -0/+15That just might turn out to be the US - for a while anyway. For the rest of the world the dollar has got a lot cheaper recently so US exports are bound to increase. That'll shrink your trade deficit, increase employment, the dollar will recover and we'll just start the whole merry-go-round again.
- protodon, on 04/09/2008, -2/+15I would gladly pay a few bucks more for an American made product over a Chinese made one. The problem is finding any American made products, especially ones that have moving parts.
- kaffein, on 04/09/2008, -1/+14So instead of enjoying the low low everyday prices for shoddy goods, we will pay the high high everyday prices for shoddy goods.
Hey I guess this will finally get people to stop buying Chinese products... but of course prices for everything will rise. :| - delmar14, on 04/09/2008, -4/+17The era of cheap Chinese labor may be coming to an end, but there are plenty of other underdeveloped countries out there to buy lead-tainted toys for the children of tomorrow.
- inactive, on 04/09/2008, -0/+11We're selling off our air? Oh *****!
- makkaveli19, on 04/09/2008, -2/+12*looks at everything in room* nope, not gonna happen.
in a couple of years even pornstars will be outsourced to china. - BrandonB1218, on 04/09/2008, -0/+10You do know not everyone who visits the site posts a comment right? There is thousands more hits than there are diggs and comments. It's not the diggs that make it go down, it's all the traffic. Right?
- smacksaw, on 04/09/2008, -1/+10There's a lot of interesting reasons as to why we would purposely devalue the US dollar, but I'll use the example in the article, the inflation of the renminbi. We ask China to quit devaluing it and pegging it to the dollar. They say no. They hold our bonds. We tank the dollar, killing two birds with one stone. Now the renminbi is rising. Hmm...and their US debt they hold is now worth even less.
All of that end up protecting manufacturing at-home and making us a more competitive exporter. Now we just need to quit borrowing from China and actually make some good out of this weak dollar. Like making and selling stuff.
The end of cheap Chinese products? How about the end of cheap Chinese credit while we're at it? - inactive, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8The sad fact is we don't NEED most of the products china sells. What we buy from them are disposable appliances. do you really NEED a salad shooter?
- TheWriteGuy, on 04/09/2008, -4/+12I was wondering if prices would eventually start going up on personal electronics and computers. So I've started buying computer components and gadgets that I need, rather than putting these purchases off.
- mahler, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8That may not be a realy bad thing: http://www.storyofstuff.com
- inactive, on 04/09/2008, -4/+11It wasn't artificially cheap. It was cheap because the people were willing to work for pennies and the overhead costs were non-existent. Sure prices will increase somewhat, but that increase will be restrained by Chinas unwillingness to loose the trade. Remember that manufacturing costs is only a small percentage of the actual price you pay at the store.
On the flip side, this is good in the long run. Chinas run-away economy is fainlly maturing and now they'll go thought the same things the UNited States and Japan have. - kjd84, on 04/09/2008, -0/+7Hopefully it will mean that Manufacturing in US and AU is more viable which would help both economies!!
- elfster, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6It isn't going to happen, but has already been happening for years. Many well known clothing companies have been importing cheap, poorly made garments and shoes. And, charging the high end price they got for the quality well made garments that use to be made in the USA, Spain, Italy, and England.
Clark shoes: Same high end price tag but the leather quality and stitching pales in comparison to what the name Clark use to stand for before they starting making them in China.
Calvin Klein garments and texiles are nothing like what they use to be too. Same high end price that one would eagerly pay the price for since it stood for quality. Now you get poorly made junk that falls apart in the washer the first time you launder it.
And, these are but a sampling of the goods we're paying a high price tag for that are made in China. And, these goods no longer stand for quality because of the poor craftmanship. - shig, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6Is it because the products are being 'Made in America'? That would be a blessing.
- jajive, on 04/09/2008, -2/+8STOP BUYING FROM CHINA... !!
Watch the television series on Discovery about the LA shipping port......thousands and thousands of shipping containers arrive from China every day packed with goods...and the US ships back thousands and thousands of shipping containers with AIR ..... - zetsurin, on 04/09/2008, -1/+7And furthermore, this only means the price to make a Nike runner will rise 30% from $1.00 to $1.30. Of course the sale price will also rise 30% to $130.
- SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6A $350 cell phone should NOT break after 21 months of use. Yet they seem to do all the time. They design crap to break.
- popnwave, on 04/09/2008, -1/+7Too bad most electronics become obsolete in 6 months.
- bosssmiley, on 04/09/2008, -2/+7Technically yes. But only when the mean income of most of the industrialised world is smeared into what a Greek fisherman would consider prosperity. Costs in the West will have to fall a *lot* to make reinvestment here worthwhile. Most foreign industrial investment is mainly a way of getting around trade tariffs.
- sandbird, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5The company sent my job to a lower-paid worker overseas, and now neither of us can afford the company product.
- SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/09/2008, -1/+6China and High Quality don't go together...
- Hangly, on 04/09/2008, -2/+7I'd buy it. Beijing air stinks.
- ja9ae, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5It's precisely this mindset that's getting us into trouble isn't it?
- TargetDog, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5It's time to dump your Wal-Mart stock.
- dupswapdrop, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4Who's next on the great exploit the worlds poor people for a few dollars more for our under worked over paid CEO's? And we wonder why the rest of the world hates us so.
- ChildeRoland420, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4Aren't the Rock Band instruments made in China?
- stix213, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4This really can only be a good thing.
Will slow the tide of US jobs shipped over seas
Will improve the plight of the poor Chinese workers
Will allow smaller stores to better compete with stores like Wal-mart - DestroyFascism, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4Most "cheap stuff" from china costs the same if made locally when you factor in time for returning defective items and the fuel they use as well as lifespan. Work it out~ 1 heater for a small room then $50. Now $25....
$50 dollar one lasts 20 years. $25 dollar one lasts 5 and only if it actually works. Defective products are usually one on five so add fuel and time $PH on top of that.
Does the $25 China made heater still sound good? Only if you have a major stake in shares! - Hangly, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5Chinese workers in general have more labor rights than you do. For one, it is damn near impossible to get fired, and even if you do the law says you get two months severance.
And yes, people take it seriously. An American manager at my company (who is ignorant of Chinese law) fired a woman recently on a whim. Now there's a lawsuit and all kinds of ***** going on.
Chinese workers also pay about a third of the taxes you do, assuming you're American.
It's not exactly paradise, but it ain't no hellhole either. Unless you're Tibetan. - Hangly, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5I'm accessing it just fine thanks.
- zetsurin, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5Free America!!
- davidlow, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3r t f a
- SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3American pickup trucks tend to last a very long time. Cars not so much.
- inactive, on 04/09/2008, -1/+4What are you referring too? I see very few USA made poducts on the shelves.
- inactive, on 04/09/2008, -2/+5"increasingly aware of their rights to a legal wage, health insurance" - since when does a communist dictatorship afford their subjects any rights? People keep forgetting that China is Communist. I thought we hated communists. I do. Do you?
- dupswapdrop, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Jobs will come back when we stop using tax dollars to fund the shipping of products from china to the USA.
- Hillyard, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3It's called planned obsolescence when "they design crap to break"
- Aroundtheworls, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Works ok from Guanzhou. Wikipedia is still banned, though dammit.
- thebaron2, on 04/09/2008, -0/+320-25% is a LOT. Many businesses live and die by much smaller margins than that.
Transportation, at least from China, is rather negligible. Water freight is relatively inexpensive, especially when you consider how many pounds of product you can fit on a barge as opposed to a freight truck. The biggest problem is the lead time when considering China, but that really isn't an issue if you can accurately forecast your demand.
Of course all of this changes depending on what types of products you're talking about, but as a rule of thumb I believe the above is accurate. - Aroundtheworls, on 04/09/2008, -1/+4How much more would you pay if the item was *exactly* the same as what's imported, just for the 'Made in America' label? The unfortunate truth is that the cost increase to buy domestic in many cases is huge and consumers are just not willing to pay. If they were then there would be more product in stores for you to buy. Believe me, people have tried it and the stuff collects dust as the cheaper imported items sell.
- Aroundtheworls, on 04/09/2008, -1/+4Problem is no one is willing to buy it if it costs 30-50% more than the imported stuff. It's like with 'green' product. Everyone says it's a good idea but when it comes to buying time the cheaper item winds up in the shopping basket.
- SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3There was a problem completing your request. Please reload the page and try again.
- Aroundtheworls, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3I work in the industry and I can tell you that the article is spot-on. The rumblings haven't been felt yet but the writing is on the wall- by this Christmas the talk is going to be the rapidly rising costs of everything from flip-flops to DVD players. Costs are rising in China at such a rate that manufacturers have no choice but to pass along increases to customers even if it means possibly losing orders.
This kick of inflation won't do the suffering US economy much good. - thebaron2, on 04/09/2008, -1/+4I'm pretty sure that China doesn't abide by the United States Constitution.
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