ORIGINAL: Tired Old Man
Doing what they can to survive. Interesting concept when you consider the companies using overseas manufacturing to make their products are realizing profit to cost rations of greater than 100-1. Those larger corporations that moved their manufacturing base simply increaed their profits from 300% to 1,000% without reducing the sales price more than a few pennies.
300% to 1000% profit margins??? Sounds a lot like the jewelry business doesn't it?
I urge all those that approve of offshore manufacturing to apply for jobs with those firms and happily accept the working conditions and wages offered. Oh, take your kids with you because there will certainly be a job opening for them too. Even the 8 year olds. You cannot consume without having something to offer in exchange. We now have little to offer so eventually the debts will be called and you'll be giving something up to compensate for that debt. It won't be anything you want to give up. Your inability to project is what limits you to being a deep discount buyer. Because of that lack of ability you are doomed to financial extinction via a constantly reducing wage level. You are competiting with the lowest common denominator, which is unskilled labor. You just don't understand the process in play, since you can't understand that your wages today are lower than they were in the 1980's when factored with the decline of dollar value.
So what's your solution? You keep spouting doom and gloom, so tell all of us lemmings what we need to be doing?
According to my latest Social Security summery (please don't do an SSA tangent!), I was making $4,000 to $8,000 a year working part time at Freds Dollar Store and Target in high school and college. I'll take today's standard of living over that of the early 1980s.