Have you ever noticed that most goods in America are made in another country? Paper towels, light bulbs, toilet paper, toilet seat covers, electronics, clothing- the list is endless. I challenge you to find something that is made here. Hard to find these days.
Why? How did this happen? How come more of the stuff we use every day is not made right here so we can have more jobs for Americans? Here are a few thoughts I have. Perhaps you can think of more:
- Cost. This is perhaps the biggest reason. Because of excessive US government regulation, high taxes, and what it costs an employer to hire just one worker, it’s just too expensive to make goods in this country. Jobs are getting tougher to find here. Someone needs to find a way to put more Americans to work (leave the government out of the equation. Too often they are part of the problem and not the solution).
- Americans don’t want to work. I have heard this often. Is it true? It does seem that our kids today do everything they can to avoid anything that resembles work. When I was a kid, we use to go mow lawns to make a few bucks during the summer. Kids just don’t do this these days. If they do they are not doing it in my neck of the woods.
- Global economy. The global market place. No longer are Americans just competing with other Americans for jobs. For many jobs, we are now competing with people all over the world who are willing (and able) to work for much less money. This saves companies money which all are looking to do. Cut costs and increase profits. And shareholder wealth.
Seems to me that our trade with countries like China is very one-sided. We buy all their stuff, but they buy very little from us. We our making their economy stronger while ours becomes weaker. Am I wrong?