

Andy Grove: How America Can Create Jobs - boh
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b4186048358596.htm

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izend
Great article explaining the issue but his solution is basically protectionist
which would instantly create million of jobs in the US.

Why is China allowed to tack on a 15-30% premium on imported foreign goods but
we aren't allowed to do the same?

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brianobush
Many of those foreign goods were made for US corporations. It would hurt those
company's profit margins and they would whine to congress loudly.

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NY_USA_Hacker
There were suicides at Foxconn because the jobs were HELL. US workers would
not put up with such working conditions. So, China used slave labor to take
our jobs? There are several points: (1) In a sense, if they want to do the
work for wildly little money and sell the results to use, then we get to buy
cheap at their loss. (2) But we lose the jobs. (3) As Grove points out, they
build an 'industrial base' and we lose ours so that later they can raise their
prices and we won't be able to do anything about it. Net, as Grove suggests,
they have an 'economic strategy' and we don't.

Grove omits a big, huge point: Why is China 'open'? Because the US worked to
make it 'open' -- remember, "Nixon went to China.". Why? Foreign policy: Get
China doing international trade, make them 'addicted' to it, and then lean
back and tell ourselves that now we have China where in their foreign policy
they have to behave. So, if they misbehave, then we won't buy their computers
and then we won't have computers. Hmm???

Part of the idea was that if we let China, or some such, sell us labor
intensive goods, then they would get the cash to buy our high tech goods from
Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, etc. Of course, soon enough China took apart a Cisco
router and saw how to build their own. For Microsoft software, they copy,
cheat, and don't pay. For Intel? Actually, Taiwan can make chips, and, really,
also design them, Maybe Intel is ahead in the design, a little.

Looks like we have China just where they want us.

Likely the US economy is the only significant one that exposes its workers to
slave labor competition via 'national economic policy' attacks from overseas.

That we believe so much how 'free enterprise' and 'competition' will protect
us is foolish: Around 1890 in the US we saw how various 'deals' could grab a
market, create a monopoly, and hold it. Eventually we passed various anti-
trust acts to make such things illegal. Of course those anti-trust acts don't
apply to China! So, for that 1890 stuff, they can use it against us, and they
are. E.g., the pick an industry, attack it, lose money if necessary, or just
use slave labor, run all other companies out of business, and then raise
prices. So, they 'take' a market. Once they have it, it will be tough for us
to take it back. They know that. The econ profs like Blinder don't count the
'asset' of 'market position'; so they are eager to see the asset thrown away.
Try to get the market position back and will see how valuable that asset was.

Net, a few people in the US are doing well and like what is going on. Many
others have their careers ruined and just drink 'free enterprise' Kool Aid.

