BL>> That indicates a labour problem with Caterpillar.

BK>> American companies build factories overseas, Japanese build
BK>> factories here. I gotta believe that's a matter of getting away
BK>> with more when they have a local govt that thinks they can move
BK>> out at any time.

 BL>  It's true that foreign manufacturers play the "I'm outa
 BL>  here" card pretty often, but really it's all about money.
 BL>  They stay if they can make money and they leave when they
 BL>  can't. I don't think it has much to do with screwing the
 BL>  local labour force.

 Money is it all. And the "getting away with more is about
 money."

 Ok, some of it is power as well as money.

BK>> I was making the point that even specialized equipment can be
BK>> built by local US or Japanese workers pretty much
BK>> interchangably. They are fungible.

 BL>  It's also a common strategy for a company to have two
 BL>  manufacturing plants well-removed, so that problems in one
 BL>  leave the other running.

 Oh yes, they do.

BL>> China has another agenda

BK>> Yeah, touring factories with cameras in hand. Only now they
BK>> don't even have to do that, our people have to train their own
BK>> replacements.

 BL>  ROFL!

 BL>  The big problem with corporations is that they are happy to
 BL> sacrifice the future for a profit, now. Government is
 BL> supposed to take a longer view, but they don't.

 True. However, the big arguement here is that govt should be run
 like a business. So, business men take over the govt and think
 only about how they can profit in the short run.

BL>> if you ship the bread-and-butter end of your hi-tech industry
BL>> offshore, you lose the base on which the *real* hi-tech is
BL>> built (the engineers, the technicians, and the capital
BL>> equipment). It takes a long time before you lose the abilities
BL>> (as much as 20 years) but there comes a time

BK>> That is a point I've been making. Too many people think all you
BK>> need are schools.

 BL>  I'm pleased that you (at least) understand it. Governments

 I been preaching that for years.

 BL>  do not have a clue and companies simply don't care, so
 BL>  long as they can make a profit. The idea of universities
 BL>  creating future technology is ridiculous. Even when they
 BL>  do come up with a good idea (rarely) it dies untried, as
 BL>  an idea. Australian universities are at the forefront of
 BL>  medical technology, but nothing gets done here. As soon as
 BL>  there is a breakthrough, the actual development moves
 BL>  offshore (and usually the scientist, too). Where is the
 BL>  profit in that?

 For the companies, big time. For the people, nope.

BL>> That's my whole point! Most consumer products are cheaper
BL>> offshore! There is a *need* for cheap labour.

BK>> Only because one does it, so the others have to do it.

 BL>  Because the *government* allows it...

 True.

 BL>  I feel sad the way Bill Clinton has been given so little
 BL>  credit. He was the one who introduced the principle of "to
 BL>  sell it here, make it here" that put Japan on its knees
 BL>  and started the US revival. It took that dickhead Bush ten
 BL>  minutes to stuff it up, only worse, with China!

 Yep, but Clinton also signed NAFTA, which contradicts that whole
 principle. And NAFTA has, so far, proven to be a disaster for
 both the US and Mexico.

 BL>  I've been hoping for an Oz PM with Clinton's brain (I'll
 BL>  happily give him a blow job), but there's very little hope
 BL>  of that, so my party dress is quite safe. I think our
 BL>  politicians have their brains removed...

 Don't give Clinton too much credit. Even he bought into the
 business line too much.

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... Maybe the universe *is* fuzzy? --Hubble Telescope Scientists
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