Why Apple says it can't build an iPhone in the US.

[SMR 368]

The reason is because here in America people think they deserve to work for nine months a year at $60/hr.

They also think simple tasks like assembling pieces of plastic or packing them into a box should pay them $12/hr.

But... then they want to buy the stuff they make at $2.99... and blame it on someone else when the world comes tumbling down around them.

Exactly what I was trying to say but I think you said it better.

[momof1 205]

Not that much if they wanted to do it. But the reality is you don't have a lot of people who want to do it (even for $10 an hour which is a lot more than they make in China).

Better schooling? Depends on how you define better. At present, US high school doesn't prepare students for any sort of job.

The going rate for Indian tech workers is about $20 an hour, including all taxes and overhead. Chinese manufacturing workers are a lot less.

What made in Germany products do you own? Germany may be able to force Germans to buy some of their products domestic but that doesn't mean that German products are successfully exported and competing with Chinese products.

In any case, I'm not sure what Germany has got to do with this. My point is that Americans need to be continuously learning new skills and looking for new opportunities in order to compete in a global economy. Most protectionist idealists ignore this.

Your claim defies logic and exhibits a lack of understanding about markets. Regardless of how much it costs to make, Apple would sell the iPad for $2000 if it thought that it could sell out at that price. They sell it for as much as they think they can sell it for and still sell out.

Just some food for thought on the Germans,

I work in a pathology laboratory and the two suppliers of the majority of our equipment are german companies: Leica Biosystems and Ventana medical which is a subsidiary of Roche group based in germanic Switzerland. There is a huge market for german equipment in hospitals. The only competitor in our field that poses any thread is Dako a danish company with a manufacturing plant in California. They profitably and successfully manufacture in the US paying American workers real wages.

I have an iPhone and a macbook both of which I love btw

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Just some food for thought on the Germans,

I work in a pathology laboratory and the two suppliers of the majority of our equipment are german companies: Leica Biosystems and Ventana medical which is a subsidiary of Roche group based in germanic Switzerland. There is a huge market for german equipment in hospitals. The only competitor in our field that poses any thread is Dako a danish company with a manufacturing plant in California. They profitably and successfully manufacture in the US paying American workers real wages.

I have an iPhone and a macbook both of which I love btw

US workers making a livable wage is a crime to some around here.

[sly_wolf 199]

US workers making a livable wage is a crime to some around here.

Sounds like it eh. Work 24 hrs a day for meager wages so the rich can get richer. Sounds more like the dark ages.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Sounds like it eh. Work 24 hrs a day for meager wages so the rich can get richer. Sounds more like the dark ages.

We can't be a great country until we go full out third world with no middle class. Then we become a great country...or so Iv'e been led to believe by some.

[웃 910]

Have you seen the amount the US collected in corporate income taxes? Not much. So little that we could drop it to 0 and we wouldn't notice much of a dip in revenue.

8% of tax revenue is from corporate taxes. Cut it in half, who cares? Drop it to 0.

We get $2.3 trillion a year in tax revenue, what's $181 billion less?

You would be more interesting if you spoke truthfully or at least in an informed manner. HALF the SS and medicare tax come from employers, so add that to it.

So you'd like to see SS and Medicare funding halved? OK, add another $410 billion to our deficit each year. You get this idea from Ron Paul?

[MochiKamo 93]

Just some food for thought on the Germans,

I work in a pathology laboratory and the two suppliers of the majority of our equipment are german companies: Leica Biosystems and Ventana medical which is a subsidiary of Roche group based in germanic Switzerland. There is a huge market for german equipment in hospitals. The only competitor in our field that poses any thread is Dako a danish company with a manufacturing plant in California. They profitably and successfully manufacture in the US paying American workers real wages.

I have an iPhone and a macbook both of which I love btw

The only countires that I know of that have put much effort to create an industrial base similar in scope to China are Germany and Japan. Germany for example is one of few "western" countries that relies greatly on manufacturing. It's why they are farring much better right now compared to other European countries which are must more associated with the service/financial industries.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

The only countires that I know of that have put much effort to create an industrial base similar in scope to China are Germany and Japan. Germany for example is one of few "western" countries that relies greatly on manufacturing. It's why they are farring much better right now compared to other European countries which are must more associated with the service/financial industries.

I read a news piece a few years back about Japanese CEO's and white collars in general. When the company they work for doesn't do good financially they don't give themselves big fat ####### bonuses and raises. I like that concept. I would like to see it become a common thing in this country but so far it hasn't.

[slim 1,525]

Over the 10 years she worked there, she was GIVEN a condo to live in, which after 5 years of work was hers to do what she pleased with. All medical care was provided by the factory at no expense to her.

That sounds horrible!

two suppliers of the majority of our equipment are german companies: Leica Biosystems and Ventana medical which is a subsidiary of Roche group based in germanic Switzerland. There is a huge market for german equipment in hospitals.

Just like there's a huge market for American furniture in China.

Specialized industry will always be country-based. You wouldn't want your medical equipment made in China, would you?

I read a news piece a few years back about Japanese CEO's and white collars in general. When the company they work for doesn't do good financially they don't give themselves big fat ####### bonuses and raises. I like that concept. I would like to see it become a common thing in this country but so far it hasn't.

If you'd quit buying the ####### these companies sell (and quit letting your government subsidize them) then they couldn't afford to do so.

If you'll notice, most of those companies that give their CEOs big bonuses when they underperform and/or drive their company into the ground only do so when the government bails them out or they're in a subsidized field.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

That sounds horrible!

Just like there's a huge market for American furniture in China.

Specialized industry will always be country-based. You wouldn't want your medical equipment made in China, would you?

If you'd quit buying the ####### these companies sell (and quit letting your government subsidize them) then they couldn't afford to do so.

If you'll notice, most of those companies that give their CEOs big bonuses when they underperform and/or drive their company into the ground only do so when the government bails them out or they're in a subsidized field.

They have been doing this decades before there was ever such a thing as a "Government Bailout". They see the writing on the wall before the company goes officially bankrupt and they make sure that they "get theirs" while the getting is still there.

The "Golden Parachute" is only one small way they have of making sure they get theirs. It doesn't mean jack to them if the company stays afloat or not, because in the end they still get their piece of the pie and then some. Again this was done way before the first Chrysler bailout.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_parachute

Golden parachute

A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee (usually upper executive) specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. Sometimes, certain conditions, typically a change in company ownership, must be met, but often the cause of termination is unspecified. These benefits may include severance pay, cash bonuses, stock options, or other benefits. They are designed to reduce perverse incentives — paradoxically (and ironically) they may create them.

Proponents of golden parachutes argue that they provide three main benefits:

Make it easier to hire and retain executives, especially in industries more prone to mergers.

Help an executive to remain objective about the company during the takeover process.

Dissuade takeover attempts by increasing the cost of a takeover, often part of a Poison Pill strategy, although tin parachutes (giving every employee takeover benefits and/or job protection) are generally far more effective in this regard.

Critics have responded to the above by pointing out that:

Dismissal is a risk in any occupation, and executives are already well compensated.

Executives already have a fiduciary responsibility to the company, and should not need additional incentives to stay objective.

Golden parachute costs are a very small percentage of a takeover's costs and do not affect the outcome.

The use of golden parachutes have caused some investors[who?][citation needed] concern since they don't specify that the executive has to perform successfully to any degree.

The first known use of the term "golden parachute" dates back to when creditors sought to oust Howard Hughes from control of TWA airlines. The creditors provided Charles C. Tillinghast Jr. an employment contract—dubbed a golden parachute in likely[original research?] reference to the protection a parachute offered—with protection against the almost definite[according to whom?] job loss Tillinghast would have faced if famed aviator Howard Hughes had successfully maintained control of TWA.[citation needed]

The use of the term "golden parachute" has significantly increased in 2008 because of the global economic recession, especially being used by news media and in the 2008 Presidential Debates.[1]

The use of golden parachutes expanded greatly in the early 1980s in response to the large increase in the number of takeovers and mergers.

According to a 2006 study by the Hay Group human resource management firm, the French executives' golden parachutes are the highest in Europe, and equivalent to the funds received by 50% of the American executives. In contrast, the French standard revenues for executives located themselves in the European average. French executives receive roughly the double of their salary and bonus in their golden parachute.

[sly_wolf 199]

I dont think the Iphone is worth the premium price especially if it's not made in the US.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just some food for thought on the Germans,

I work in a pathology laboratory and the two suppliers of the majority of our equipment are german companies: Leica Biosystems and Ventana medical which is a subsidiary of Roche group based in germanic Switzerland. There is a huge market for german equipment in hospitals. The only competitor in our field that poses any thread is Dako a danish company with a manufacturing plant in California. They profitably and successfully manufacture in the US paying American workers real wages.

I have an iPhone and a macbook both of which I love btw

The Germans have gone for the niche for high quailty expensive equipment. Doesn;t work in America for most things. Can yu imagine "LeicaMart" Me either.

there is always a market for the best quality, most expensive but it is small. Not enough to support the economy of Germany AND 300 miliion Americans.

FWIW Alla was a very successful business woman in Ukraine offering a service of trnslation and interpretation to Eu manufacturers selling their goods in Russia and Ukraine. One of her best clients was an Italian furniture conglomerate that sold extremely expensive handmade furniture and did well with it in Russia and Ukraine. The average Ukrainian could not hope to make that much money in a lifetime to buy one of their wardrobes or dining sets. But she did well. It would be stupid for Ukrainian furniture manufacturers to go for that market also.

Edited January 23, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[slim 1,525]

They have been doing this decades before there was ever such a thing as a "Government Bailout". They see the writing on the wall before the company goes officially bankrupt and they make sure that they "get theirs" while the getting is still there.

The "Golden Parachute" is only one small way they have of making sure they get theirs. It doesn't mean jack to them if the company stays afloat or not, because in the end they still get their piece of the pie and then some. Again this was done way before the first Chrysler bailout.

Please list some CEOs that got huge bonuses before the bailouts. (And try to keep them out of govt-funded markets like transportation, telecomm and/or energy. Thanks.)

So, basically, they should just split it up amongst ALL the employees?

I'm really not understanding this belief some Americans hold that "it's not fair" someone else makes so much money. Don't you personally try to make as much as possible when you negotiate your pay? I would think most people don't go into a job interview and say, "$12 an hour? Why that's just too much. Why not spread that love around a little. I'll take $10 and you can re-invest $2/hr. back into the company so we can all make more money down the road."

Do you do that?

Does anyone?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Please list some CEOs that got huge bonuses before the bailouts. (And try to keep them out of govt-funded markets like transportation, telecomm and/or energy. Thanks.)

So, basically, they should just split it up amongst ALL the employees?

I'm really not understanding this belief some Americans hold that "it's not fair" someone else makes so much money. Don't you personally try to make as much as possible when you negotiate your pay? I would think most people don't go into a job interview and say, "$12 an hour? Why that's just too much. Why not spread that love around a little. I'll take $10 and you can re-invest $2/hr. back into the company so we can all make more money down the road."

Do you do that?

Does anyone?

Of course not. Simply ask them at what level they want THEIR pay to be capped. Their children's pay t be capped? And not just pay but total income from all sources. What should be the maximum amount THEY be allowed to earn?

[slim 1,525]

Of course not. Simply ask them at what level they want THEIR pay to be capped. Their children's pay t be capped? And not just pay but total income from all sources. What should be the maximum amount THEY be allowed to earn?

Therein lies the hypocrisy. "They shouldn't make that much but I can make as much as I want." Or my personal favorite, "If I made that much I'd WANT them to tax me at a higher rate."

HA!