...

BL>> Whitegoods are still made locally, because they are big and
BL>> heavy and cost a lot to move across the world, and also because
BL>> there is not much labour involved. A regrigerator is mostly a
BL>> big box, paint, and compressor. In that case, cheap labour is
BL>> not essential.

BK>> If caterpillar can build it's tractors overseas, then most
BK>> anything can be. OTOH, Toyota builds their tractors here.

 BL>  That indicates a labour problem with Caterpillar. I don't

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

 BL>  know about large machines at all. I would have thought
 BL>  specialist equipment not mass produced could be made
 BL>  anywhere. I'm talking about the consumer market (where the
 BL>  big money is) and mass-production by the million.

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

BL>> Being Communists, the idea of profit does not make sense. Hard
BL>> currency, makes sense.

BK>> Yet they do seem to understand profit. To them competition
BK>> doesn't make sense. OTOH, it doesn't to our local capitalists
BK>> either, or so it seems.

 BL>  China has another agenda at present... the same as Japan
 BL>  had in the 1960s when they were building thier local
 BL>  industry. If they sell at a loss, who cares... so long as
 BL>  they gain the technology and the ability to make a profit
 BL>  in the future.

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

BL>> They shipped the entire Australain electronics industry
BL>> offshore, and all for 20% off the price of a TV. This is
BL>> Globalism.

BK>> Makes eminent sense to the corporation, none at all to the
BK>> people who need to feed their families.

 BL>  It's worse than that. A society changes and other work is
 BL>  created, bit if you ship the bread-and-butter end of your
 BL>  hi-tech industry offshore, you lose the base on which the
 BL>  *real* hi-tech is built (the engineers, the technicians,
 BL>  and the capital equipment). It takes a long time before
 BL>  you lose the abilities (as much as 20 years) but there
 BL>  comes a time when you want to build something a little
 BL>  special (like StarWars lasers), and you find that you can
 BL>  no longer do it in this country. The equipment is in Hong
 BL>  Kong, or Europe... or Communist China. And even if you
 BL>  spend a few billion to buy the gear, you still have no one
 BL>  trained to use it...

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

BL>> Manual labour uses discrete components with leads;
BL>> pick-and-place uses block components.

BK>> Those thousands of little Chinese ladies are only used because
BK>> they are cheap.

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

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

BK>> However, when we are all living in third world countries,
BK>> they'll keep telling us we still have it better than those
BK>> ladies in China.

 BL>  ROFL!!! I don't know why I'm laughing - it's not funny.

 Gallows humor?

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

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