[Homestead] American manufacturing

Gene GeRue genegerue at ruralize.com
Sun Apr 20 07:53:27 EDT 2008


On Apr 19, 2008, at 10:28 PM, EarthNSky wrote:

>  Capitalism in
> China is not capitalism in the states, and it's not quite the picture
> you or rather PJ is painting, but it has its advantages in that  
> there is
> no nimby atmosphere, no EPA, no real labor laws like in the US, so  
> it is
> easier to make a profit, but in general, it is a smaller profit,  
> unless,
> like your friend, you own multiple plants in multiple locations so you
> can parse out work to plants that make the most financial sense.

I might have elaborated more. (I knew I was tired, but I didn't know  
how tired--I just now awoke after nine-and-a-half hours of solid  
sleep.) The primary reason PJ built a plant in China is because that  
is where his greatest unserved demand existed. By building his plant  
there he would get raw material closer to the sales point and would  
have to move the finished product a far shorter distance to his  
customers. And, yes, the regulations on setting up and running a plant  
are much less stringent there. And then there are much lower labor  
costs.

Bill Clinton warned Americans to be flexible, that they would be  
changing jobs many times throughout their working lives. I wonder how  
many listened and believed, and more, how many got themselves ready.



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