How Do You Create Job Growth?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The current immediate source of joblessness comes from a tight credit market and housing market mess. Obama and crew have hit upon an idea I threw out a while back at letting some banks fail but they call a "stress test". Blowing billions to save all banking institutions was wasteful and didn't make credit easier to get. The prices of homes need to fall further because they were artificially high to begin with.

The big problem is we save and invest little in industries where productivity can be increased leading to more jobs and higher wages. Cut off special tax breaks on home mortgages and increase gas taxes. Social Security is a huge waste of taking from the productive and giving it to the unproductive. Increase sales taxes and reduce taxes on capital gains. We need to save more and spend less to increase the pool of available capital to available to business. The military could take a hit on weapons programs where the U.S. far ahead of anyone else.

There are alternatives besides Obama's scary talk of my way or you'll all die in breadlines. I don't know if Washington can reform itself since it can't manage to cut anything out and constantly sucking up more taxes for new programs.

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

[alienlovechild 75]

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

There's a good reason why there are no major American TV manufacturers for a long time- too easy to make elsewhere. Some products won't have a comparative advantage to be made here so we should encourage American companies that make things that can't be made elsewhere. Right now our best and brightest go to business schools to figure out creative financing or law schools. Since I grew up in a manufacturing area I'm surprised that a lot of Americans never worked in a factory nor knows anyone who works in one now. The sad thing is we don't invest in companies that can make high quality consumer goods like big screen TVs. There's a market here for those products but it's easier to invest with moneychangers or get rich flipping houses (until recently). Few want study hard to be engineers or take risks to invest in making products while dealing with government regulations and stiff foreign competition.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

There's a good reason why there are no major American TV manufacturers for a long time- too easy to make elsewhere. Some products won't have a comparative advantage to be made here so we should encourage American companies that make things that can't be made elsewhere. Right now our best and brightest go to business schools to figure out creative financing or law schools. Since I grew up in a manufacturing area I'm surprised that a lot of Americans never worked in a factory nor knows anyone who works in one now. The sad thing is we don't invest in companies that can make high quality consumer goods like big screen TVs. There's a market here for those products but it's easier to invest with moneychangers or get rich flipping houses (until recently). Few want study hard to be engineers or take risks to invest in making products while dealing with government regulations and stiff foreign competition.

That's just it - if we can't compete with Third World labor for manufacturing goods, how to keep manufacturing jobs in America? Free market capitalists don't seem to have a clear answer to this.

I'd say we need restructure our trade agreements to even the playing field, otherwise no U.S. TV manufacturer can exist.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

There's a good reason why there are no major American TV manufacturers for a long time- too easy to make elsewhere. Some products won't have a comparative advantage to be made here so we should encourage American companies that make things that can't be made elsewhere. Right now our best and brightest go to business schools to figure out creative financing or law schools. Since I grew up in a manufacturing area I'm surprised that a lot of Americans never worked in a factory nor knows anyone who works in one now. The sad thing is we don't invest in companies that can make high quality consumer goods like big screen TVs. There's a market here for those products but it's easier to invest with moneychangers or get rich flipping houses (until recently). Few want study hard to be engineers or take risks to invest in making products while dealing with government regulations and stiff foreign competition.

That's just it - if we can't compete with Third World labor for manufacturing goods, how to keep manufacturing jobs in America? Free market capitalists don't seem to have a clear answer to this.

I'd say we need restructure our trade agreements to even the playing field, otherwise no U.S. TV manufacturer can exist.

I don't us creating TVs. I'd rather we invest and reinvest in ourselves and our country. Other more sustainable industries will arise. htat is where the free market comes in.

If our roads/cities.schools are again top notch, investors/entrepreneurs will find ways to take advantage that these pluses give them.

But Americans will also have to reasses their mentality of Me First and looks to contribute to the greater good in order for all of this to succeed.

Daniel

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I don't us creating TVs. I'd rather we invest and reinvest in ourselves and our country. Other more sustainable industries will arise. htat is where the free market comes in.

If our roads/cities.schools are again top notch, investors/entrepreneurs will find ways to take advantage that these pluses give them.

But Americans will also have to reasses their mentality of Me First and looks to contribute to the greater good in order for all of this to succeed.

Daniel

Well, I agree - not all manufacturing needs to happen here, on U.S. soil, but by ensuring that our trade agreements have all participants playing on the same level field, our economy and the economies of the world will have a more sustainable future.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

I don't us creating TVs. I'd rather we invest and reinvest in ourselves and our country. Other more sustainable industries will arise. htat is where the free market comes in.

If our roads/cities.schools are again top notch, investors/entrepreneurs will find ways to take advantage that these pluses give them.

But Americans will also have to reasses their mentality of Me First and looks to contribute to the greater good in order for all of this to succeed.

Daniel

Well, I agree - not all manufacturing needs to happen here, on U.S. soil, but by ensuring that our trade agreements have all participants playing on the same level field, our economy and the economies of the world will have a more sustainable future.

man, i can't worth shite.

luckily, you can understand what the heck i am trying to say.

i don't think the trade agreements are our problems nor that bad. sure they can be made better, but they are not the cause of our problems.

take NAFTA. how has that hurt the US of A? In order for that to be true, one or two of the other signing countries would have benefited. I can't speak for Canada, but I know Mexico isn't making off like a bandit on this one.

Also, keep in mind that the entire world is suffering from this recession, yes even China.

At least we can discount Trade Agreements as the problem.

I've heard some economist talk about 'consumer confidence'. That is a very nebulous marker. For more concrete indicators, we need to see jobs and income grow.

bleah. like i said up front, this is a tough one.

Daniel

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

man, i can't worth shite.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

man, i can't worth shite.

see what i mean.

throw my theories out too.

must be that Windex Julia told me to sniff.

Daniel

[mRx 16]

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

There's a good reason why there are no major American TV manufacturers for a long time- too easy to make elsewhere. Some products won't have a comparative advantage to be made here so we should encourage American companies that make things that can't be made elsewhere. Right now our best and brightest go to business schools to figure out creative financing or law schools. Since I grew up in a manufacturing area I'm surprised that a lot of Americans never worked in a factory nor knows anyone who works in one now. The sad thing is we don't invest in companies that can make high quality consumer goods like big screen TVs. There's a market here for those products but it's easier to invest with moneychangers or get rich flipping houses (until recently). Few want study hard to be engineers or take risks to invest in making products while dealing with government regulations and stiff foreign competition.

That's just it - if we can't compete with Third World labor for manufacturing goods, how to keep manufacturing jobs in America?

Years and years of costly war and ridiculous government spending had to get funded somehow. Inflation. This, as we all know, has effects. The effect has been the rising costs, rising prices, and devaluing of our currency. These rising costs/prices have made us uncompetitive in the global market, which is why we have such huge trade deficits. Our dollar needs to drop to realistic levels and the printing presses need to be shut down, if we ever want to have anything to offer other nations.

I'd say we need restructure our trade agreements to even the playing field, otherwise no U.S. TV manufacturer can exist.

Restricting trade is a bad idea Steven.

Japan did it with rice, to keep SE Asian countries from importing cheap rice, and underpricing inefficient Japanese rice farmers. This is why the price of rice is so expensive in Japan. We did the same thing with sugar, which is why we pay something like 6X the world average for sugar, and why that HFCS ####### is used instead.

The only person hurt is the consumer, which is every one of us.

[Cherel & Bob 0]

There really is no true free market on a global scale anymore. You cannot level the playing field. All countries have their own standard of living, all have their own laws regarding livable wages, environmental impact, and job safety.

To create jobs in this environment you most certainly have to turn to a big government to do it. Makes me sad to admit it but it seems to be true. If we could take the pork out of the stimulus plan, (really do we need 50 million to go to the arts right now), we could get the government to work on some much needed infrastructure improvements. Bridges are in a huge state of disrepair, most of the highways are in need of widening and general repair work. Lets relax some of the environmental policies and start building and creating things. Did you know that the man made culverts on the side of every highway are protected as wetlands. It is tough for state governments to widen highways because of those "wetlands", never mind that the new highway will create more wetlands.

We could also focus on creating more jobs by making it easier for company to do business. There is a great wind farm being proposed off the coast of Massachusetts right now. Unfortunately it would be in a location that may disrupt Teddy Kennedy's favorite sailing location. Can't afford to tick off the old drunk so we have to wait for this stroke thing to finish him off so we can get started building it. Why do we need to put wind farms out to sea? Because the damn lawyers have found that they can sue owners and operators of wind turbines because the sight of the shadow of the whirring blades can maybe cause balance issues in people. Don't believe it? See http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/ NIMBY or not in my back yard is a huge problem here. We could build more dams for hydroelectric power but nobody wants to live near one. We could build more refineries so that we could process the crude oil more efficiently but that could harm the environment and again nobody wants to live near one.

Unfortunately the United States is in a rough place right now. Due to our standard of living, due to special interest groups, lobbyists, and life long politicians, due to lawyers and greedy CEOs, we are going to have a hard time getting out of this mess. Imagine trying to build the Hoover dam in this day and age. Imagine trying to build the Eisenhower highway system in this day and age. Imagine being an inventor who comes up with a product that he wants to bring to market but can't due to liability issues. Or maybe he does bring it to market but the politicians and lawyers won't let anybody use the product on public land i.e. the Segway. The guy who invented the Segway is a genius. He has invented some products that could change the world but again lawyers, greedy Ceos, politicians and lobbyists keep real progress from happening. http://gizmodo.com/370698/colbert-first-vi...water-distiller http://www.newsweek.com/id/130735

So how do you stimulate jobs and a recovery. Take the money away from the bankers, lawyers, and politicians. Give it back to the people in the form of wider highways and cleaner energy. Give the money to inventors who BUILD products.

Ok so maybe I ranted a bit here, but I am in sales and this week I am finally feeling the effects of this economy.

Bob

[one...two...tree 2,762]

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

There's a good reason why there are no major American TV manufacturers for a long time- too easy to make elsewhere. Some products won't have a comparative advantage to be made here so we should encourage American companies that make things that can't be made elsewhere. Right now our best and brightest go to business schools to figure out creative financing or law schools. Since I grew up in a manufacturing area I'm surprised that a lot of Americans never worked in a factory nor knows anyone who works in one now. The sad thing is we don't invest in companies that can make high quality consumer goods like big screen TVs. There's a market here for those products but it's easier to invest with moneychangers or get rich flipping houses (until recently). Few want study hard to be engineers or take risks to invest in making products while dealing with government regulations and stiff foreign competition.

That's just it - if we can't compete with Third World labor for manufacturing goods, how to keep manufacturing jobs in America?

Years and years of costly war and ridiculous government spending had to get funded somehow. Inflation. This, as we all know, has effects. The effect has been the rising costs, rising prices, and devaluing of our currency. These rising costs/prices have made us uncompetitive in the global market, which is why we have such huge trade deficits. Our dollar needs to drop to realistic levels and the printing presses need to be shut down, if we ever want to have anything to offer other nations.

I'd say we need restructure our trade agreements to even the playing field, otherwise no U.S. TV manufacturer can exist.

Restricting trade is a bad idea Steven.

Japan did it with rice, to keep SE Asian countries from importing cheap rice, and underpricing inefficient Japanese rice farmers. This is why the price of rice is so expensive in Japan. We did the same thing with sugar, which is why we pay something like 6X the world average for sugar, and why that HFCS ####### is used instead.

The only person hurt is the consumer, which is every one of us.

So should we open trade with all willing countries? What about weapons manufacturing? Should we sell our weapons to any willing country? How about human body parts?

There really is no true free market on a global scale anymore. You cannot level the playing field. All countries have their own standard of living, all have their own laws regarding livable wages, environmental impact, and job safety.

To create jobs in this environment you most certainly have to turn to a big government to do it. Makes me sad to admit it but it seems to be true.

........

Ok so maybe I ranted a bit here, but I am in sales and this week I am finally feeling the effects of this economy.

Bob

I imagine a lot of people who traditionally considered themselves leaning to the Right that work in sales are beginning to rethink their views.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Mister Fancypants

[Waldo 0]

Increase the desire for goods and services. The money has to be at the bottom of the economy pyramid for it to work though.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) Wal-Mart says it's cutting 700 to 800 jobs at its Arkansas headquarters. But the company also says it plans to add thousands of jobs at its stores this year.

There is the Walmart model...

[mRx 16]

I'd say we need restructure our trade agreements to even the playing field, otherwise no U.S. TV manufacturer can exist.

Restricting trade is a bad idea Steven.

Japan did it with rice, to keep SE Asian countries from importing cheap rice, and underpricing inefficient Japanese rice farmers. This is why the price of rice is so expensive in Japan. We did the same thing with sugar, which is why we pay something like 6X the world average for sugar, and why that HFCS ####### is used instead.

The only person hurt is the consumer, which is every one of us.

So should we open trade with all willing countries? What about weapons manufacturing? Should we sell our weapons to any willing country? How about human body parts?

Well, this isn't really relevant with the "even playing field" trade agreements that you think we need.

Yes we should open trade with all willing countries, why not? Our relationship with China has undoubtedly improved since lifting the trade embargo in the 70's.

Funny you mention weapons, as they are the only goods that are freely-traded by the government. In fact, weapons are traded without tariff or duty, in the form of "aid".

But if you mean weapons in general, then, I really don't see why they couldn't be traded, from an economic perspective.

From an ethical perspective, I see guns as merely a means. They are not an end in themselves. If someone desires to take another's life, lack of a gun will not prevent that. But, if someone is trying to impose their will on someone weaker, a gun would prevent that. I'd like to think that we don't live in a time where the strong conquer and the weak suffer.

You can look at the situation in Iraq; When coalition forces required Iraqi citizens to forfeit their personal defense arms. Clearly, only the persons that didn't intend to do vicious harm turned in their weapons obedientely. Rape, murder, and robbery skyrocketed, as the weaker were forced to submit to the will of the strong. I definitely see the necessity of allowing people to defend themselves, their families, and properties.

[NickD 203]

What's the incentive for a U.S. company who manufactures TV's for example, to have them built here?

No longer a labor intensive hand wired chassis, practically everything today is being done that is tantamount to using a printing press, discrete components are mounted robotically at the rate of 20 parts per second. Just takes a few technicians to man an entire production line.

The key problem is the chemicals and etching compounds that have to be used, but somehow, to reprocess those are more expensive than taking a slow boat to China where it's cheaper to dump those on the street.

In terms of manufacturing, if the stock holders can make just a couple of cents more per buck or even less, it will be shipped overseas. Every decision is based on making a bit of extra money now with no thought given to the outcome. Like a huge percentage of Americans losing their jobs, so they no longer can afford to buy this #######. But it's catching up now.

Other minor side effects, is companies like Sony being able to afford to buy our entertainment industry or giving money to dictators so they can buy weapons that are used against us from Russia. But these are only minor side effects.

Our politicians also think short term, like getting re-elected.