ironrooster, you just about hit the spike on the head with the that… economics 101 now says that try and make as much profit as you can by selling one unit of product for as much as you can get for it with as little expence at manufactoring it as possable… the old corp. model of making profit by selling product my volume for a cheeper retal price has gone by the way of the steam locomotive for the most part in the corp world…
csx engineer
To be honest, DM&E won’t add any jobs. It will only transfer jobs from one tranportation company to another. The coal or grain that moves now on UP, BNSF, or truck, will still move, even if there was no DM&E.
Here we go again off the tracks (mandatory railroad reference to remain somewhat on topic). [:D]
OK, I’ll play Devil’s Advocate…
Fine. Better pay, then.
But in return, how about providing employers with potential employees who are qualified to do more than simple, basic manual labor? Employees who can speak English? That know how to do something as simple as count money accurately and make change? Or put the right order in the bag every time at the drive-up window at fast food joints? The ability to type into a business-specific software program?
Employees at the very least have to generate their salary for their employer so he can pay them. At the very least. That’s how business works. Today, the U.S. does not have a very good record of this. Why should workers be the only ones “getting more?”
While workers may not always be offered the best salaries and benefits, they don’t always offer a good package to the employer, either.
I apologize if I gave the wrong impression…I really liked Scranton and enjoyed my visit there…some great folks…that’s why it bothered me…it was just odd to look up at twenty story building and then as I walked toward it…to realize it was pretty much a shell…I went over to Scranton Hobby…stayed at the old Lackwanna Station which has to have one of the most impressive interiors of any station I have ever entered…I hope Scranton gets some of it’s lifeblood back…I just came away feeling…is’nt that a d_____n shame…?
It’s easy to do when you are the only one making cars. If you have competition, and you have to sell your product for 20% more because you pay your employees more, then you can bet that those employees will gladly take their generous salaries and buy your competitor’s product.
Here’s an idea, let’s level the playing field with tariffs on goods manufactured offshore , and use the proceeds to revitalize Amtrak?
Heh. It really doesn’t take tariffs. What will tariffs accomplish, except to raise the prices of imports? If people are serious about it, they can always “buy American” regardless of any price/quality differential that may exist. In fact, if all union members always bought American whenever they had the choice to do so, the American economy would be quite revitalized, with a resulting increase in wages to boot.
…Finding the products you care to buy in America {made in USA}, might be a problem. Many are history.
Tariffs will place the incentive upon corporations to repatriate production and assembly jobs
hint: GE didn’t move their refrigerator plant to mexico because they were looking for a workforce that spoke english.
Right now many firms that would have kept their means of production in the USA, couldn’t and expect to remain competitive with outfits that don’t care if their workforce lives in a sewer.
Tariffs (if placed correctly) would work wonders towards bringing jobs back to these shores.
Sometimes a little protectionism is a good thing, and IMO is warranted in this instance.
Most new or “future” ghost towns in South Dakota. northwest Iowa, and southwest Minnesota have something else in common, besides the loss of farms and farmers. Most used to have a railroad running through the middle of town.
AG, I think that your statement validates what I have said. If union workers had all been buying American to begin with, it would have prevented those companies from having to move production offshore in order to remain competitive.
Union workers are a huge consumer market here in the US. But like everyone else, they shop for the best bargains that they can find - because they don’t realize that buying import is the same as shooting themselves in the foot.
I know several union people in the electrical and plumbing fields, and not one of them drives an American auto.
No apology needed - I was just trying to say that difference is in Detroit there’s this entire skyline of 50 story buildings, each one of them an archetectural gem, and you walk up to them and they are all abandoned. I’ve also stayed at the Scranton station and I’ve stood outside the Michigan Central Station… it’s a quite a stark difference. If Detroit and Gary had held on as well as Scranton (which is old, run down and trying really hard) it would be a lot nicer than what has happened to both of them (used up and thrown away like an old rag). I love American cities and American railroads stations. It’s sad to see so many of them so down at their knees.
It’s not that I’m necessarily trying to prove your line of thinking is “invalid” . I just like my strategy better than yours.
Forcing jobs back into america, will make america better …
…And buying “American” now really doesn’t cure the problem…Such as the automobile…15, 20 or even more % of it’s parts are manfuctured in another country. Some “American” brands are totally assembled in either Mexico or Canada…!
Okay. Now let’s hear from all of those who right now are using a 100 percent made & manufactured in USA computer. [swg]
…The page would be blank.
Or watching a USA M&M television.
'Tis noble to talk about limiting imports and buying only American-made goods, but in reality it would be nearly impossible. As we read above, not even union workers care to participate, and according to some they are the ones who stand to gain the most.
But it’s great fuel for flapping gums on a winter night, ain’t it?[:D]
The lines certainly blur at times. Buy an American car? Are you sure it is made in America? Dont buy a car from Japan? Chances are it was made right here in USA.
If you purchase an “American” car then the chances are you are not sending a share of the purchase price to Detroit for re-investment or return to the shareholders (owners) but more than likely you are paying for someone’s health benefits that doesnt even work there anymore!
It is very complex these days.
ed
I wouldn’t say that union workers gain any more than any other American. I only bring them up because it would be easier to organize them to buy American than it would to convince someone who is an Asian immigrant (for example). But we all benefit from American-made goods, even non-union workers such as myself.
And PZ, you are right. It is interesting to talk about it, but I dare say that few people ever would consider actually changing their lifestyle and do something about it. “The government ought to…” mentality reigns supreme.
…Yes, that’s correct…“the government ought to”…and again, I’m not talking politics…All govenment should work on our “'free trade policy” for starters and then maybe us, the citizens would have something to start to work with.