Some good news on the outsourcing front...

[gevorg]

"Our jobs"? Sounds like socialism.

And its not only about cheaper, too many times (especially in IT/science) foreigners are being chosen by American companies because they are smarter and better trained. We have to compete by at least having better quality in whatever we are doing.

 

[davmat787]

"Our jobs"? Sounds like socialism.

And its not only about cheaper, too many times (especially in IT/science) foreigners are being chosen by American companies because they are smarter and better trained. We have to compete by at least having better quality in whatever we are doing.

The article in the OP has examples of why some companies are returning to domestic manufacturing due to this very reason.

 

[Zorba]

98% of shoes and 96% of clothing is made outside of the US so there isn't much choice now. New Balance started shipping factories to China just like the rest. I could not find a pair of made in the USA NB's at Shoe Carnival the last time I was there.

All the low end cheap New Balances are made in China, it is their higher end stuff that is made in the US. If you go to a New Balance store you'll find a lot of made in the US shoes.

When I give blood at work, the T-shirts are always made in the US. They are by far the nicest T-shirts I have. They are so thick that they are actually sometimes too hot to wear in the summer. I wish you could actually go to a store and buy made in the US Clothing.

 

[davmat787]

I wish you could actually go to a store and buy made in the US Clothing.

Doesn't American Apparel manufacture all of their clothes in the US? I think they have stores in most major malls, but I can't stand going to malls so I would check their website first.

 

[davmat787]

If anyone is interested, here is a link to a website that lists companies that manufacture in the US.

 

[Triumph]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Balance#Made_in_USA_.28and_UK.29_stance

http://www.newbalance.com/usa/#/made-in-usa

That's pretty bad, when a company is praised for proclaiming that 25% of its shoes are produced in the US. 25%!!!

 

[Zorba]

Doesn't American Apparel manufacture all of their clothes in the US? I think they have stores in most major malls, but I can't stand going to malls so I would check their website first.

I've never heard of them before, I'll have to check out their website.

 

[werepossum]

This is good news.

Too bad there are no ramifications to the rich bastards that put profits over people to begin with.

Resource owners are supposed to put profits over people to some degree - that's how capitalism drives progress. It's up to us to put in place policies that are best for us all. Unfortunately we have done the polar opposite, even using tax money to subsidize corporations moving factories out of the country. This puts enormous pressure on those companies who want to compete of quality and productivity rather than chasing the cheapest labor rate, and in the end, harms us all. (Good for Mexico and China though.)

And unfortunately, New Balance manufacturing 25% of their shoes in the USA is actually astoundingly good by today's standards, which is why I still buy them. Mason still manufactures some of its shoes in the USA too. When these go completely offshore, I'll look for a Korean etc. company that makes its products in its own country. I try to avoid Chinese products, but if I must choose from only Chinese-made products, then I'll pass up the American-owned, Chinese-made brands.

 

[Triumph]

i've taken to an "anything but China" method when looking at products. hey, these towels were made in pakistan! at least it isn't china!

 

[werepossum]

i've taken to an "anything but China" method when looking at products. hey, these towels were made in pakistan! at least it isn't china!

Yeah, me too. If I HAVE to buy something made in China though, then I go for Chinese brands rather than reward those who move their factories there.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

This is good news.

Too bad there are no ramifications to the rich bastards that put profits over people to begin with.

By rich bastards, do you mean the people that have 401K and other retirement funds that have stocks in them? I sure hope you don't have any type of retirement account that has any stocks in it otherwise you're one of those rich bastards that put money before people.
These large corporations 1st responsibility is to the stock holders, because the stock holders are the owners.

 

[JSt0rm]

By rich bastards, do you mean the people that have 401K and other retirement funds that have stocks in them? I sure hope you don't have any type of retirement account that has any stocks in it otherwise you're one of those rich bastards that put money before people.
These large corporations 1st responsibility is to the stock holders, because the stock holders are the owners.

Evil isnt it :twisted:

 

[JTsyo]

Apparently we really don't, at least not if we have to pay for it. Do you buy exclusively made in the USA products? Ever looked at the walmart story?

If you can buy an equivalent made in the USA product, enough people might pay a 10-15% premium if it has flags all over it, but that is very hard to do. How many people do you think you look country of origin over the price difference between products?

Perhaps we need to do a better job of highlighting companies that are still manufacturing in the US, such as New Balance, so people are more aware of the choices.

ABC had a segment where they trashed all of a family's stuff that wasn't made in the US, which turned about to be about everything. Then replaced it all with American made stuff. I didn't see the final segment which they went over the total costs, though it took them 2 hours of phone calls to find a coffee machine that was made in the US.

ahh here it is.

 

[davmat787]

ABC had a segment where they trashed all of a family's stuff that wasn't made in the US, which turned about to be about everything. Then replaced it all with American made stuff. I didn't see the final segment which they went over the total costs, though it took them 2 hours of phone calls to find a coffee machine that was made in the US.

ahh here it is.

Thanks for posting the vid, will watch it later.