OT: And So It Begins....

By "a major newspaper."

It would be prudent in the future, virus or no virus, to be less dependant in China for critical materials and labor. Really, we could assemble $1200 iPhones here.

Did you actually read the article? The bill was drawn up in an op-ed in a newspaper...

Talk about fake news!

We can do that starting now. Just don't buy anything made in China anymore . Then they will start making phones in Indonesia. Stop buying phones mad e in Indonesia and they will make them in Vietnam. Stop buying phones made anywhere overseas and for $1,000 you will get a flip phone.

Maybe we should get Elon on this problem? Oh, he's making cars in China. Ok, so much for the Chinese boycott.

How about Canada? Is Canada ok?

Trust Cursitor Doom both to read the Daily Express - it published right-wing nonsense - and take their article seriously, when the "bill" in question was concocted by a newspaper.

The US would have been prudent if they'd spent more money on automating their production limes, rather opting to off-shore production to palces where human labour was cheaper.

Germany - with about a quarter of the US population - exports roughly as much as the US does. They automated production to the point where they could sell at competitive prices. The US didn't.

The Covid-19 epidemic isn't going to make US manufacturers more sensible overnight. A better education system might.

heir production limes, rather opting to off-shore production to palces wher e human labour was cheaper.

That is a pretty simplistic view. The U.S. production lines are highly au tomated as are the Chinese production lines. But both production lines nee d maintenance and loading of raw materials. Guess where the maintenance i s cheaper? Guess where the book keeping is cheaper? Guess where the cost of benefits are lower? Pensions and health care. Guess where buildings are cheaper to rent?

Dan

Dan

their production limes, rather opting to off-shore production to palces wh ere human labour was cheaper.

Of course it is. It was aimed at people like you.

tion lines. But both production lines need maintenance and loading of raw materials. Guess where the maintenance is cheaper? Guess where the book keeping is cheaper? Guess where the cost of benefits are lower? Pensions and health care. Guess where buildings are cheaper to rent?

"Highly automated" isn't a quantitative measure. It pays to spend more on a utomating processes where labour is more expensive, so you'd have expected US companies to spend more, but they can outsource to countries where labou r is cheaper.

Once you've got the labour content right down, maintenance costs are going to start getting significant. Loading raw material isn't exactly lots of pe ople with shovels either.

You snipped my point about Germany exporting almost as much as the US - if you had enough sense to have processed the point, I'd point that an unmarke d snip is a kind of cheat, but you aren't bright enough to understand that.