If anyone thinks that we can build any of these plants in 6-12 months, then there’s no point in pointing out that most of the materials to build these plants comes from the countries that we are heavily tariffing.
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Buying a part cheaply in China and selling it in US is easy. Vs making a part in US. Business 101. Effort required vs profit.
Whether or not one likes Trump, or agrees with his tactics, the goal of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. is laudable, and necessary in order to have a successful economy over the long-term.
And this has NOTHING at all to do with lowering prices for consumers, or for small businesses. Nor is that the point, nor should that be the point.
The problem is that the race to the bottom is not sustainable. We cannot compete with slave labor in very poor countries, where human rights/workplace safety/environmental laws simply don’t exist. And we shouldn’t have to. Anyone who thinks we should is out of their mind.
More importantly, we cannot sustain an economy in which few physical goods are made, and most jobs are either low-paying service industry jobs, or higher-paying knowledge industry jobs–which are vulnerable to outsourcing and automation. Without a doubt, the policies of Reagan and both Bushes led to the massive loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs, and hardworking families and communities thrust into poverty.
When I was a junior and senior in high school (in 1996, 1997), I worked in a grocery store bagging groceries and collecting shopping carts. I was paid minimum wage, which was $4.25 when I started, but I got a raise after a few months–not because the company wanted to give me one, but because the minimum wage increased by 25 cents per hour.
When I graduated (in 1997), I got a job working in a factory, making $11.75 per hour. At this time, a studio apartment cost about $350 per month, food for one person cost less than $200 per month, a decent used car cost less than $2000, and so on. I ended up losing this job when the plant closed due to outsourcing. After that, I got a job at another factory, also for decent money, but lost that job after two years, again due to outsourcing.
After that, I ended up moving back to my parents’ house, as I could no longer afford rent, and could no longer find a decent-paying job. I worked a bunch of “krapp” jobs for “krapp” pay until finally I decided to go to school and learn HVAC and refrigeration. At least that cannot be outsourced.
But what if I did not have the ability to move back in with mom and dad? I would have surely fallen into homelessness, and that would have marked the end of my ability and willingness to work a legit job. I would have likely been forced to turn to criminal activity to survive, and likely spend the next several decades in and out of jails and prisons, at tremendous cost to the taxpayer, rather than being a productive worker and paying taxes.
Thus, even if one ignores the tremendous human cost of wasted lives and crushed ambitions due to a lack of decent-paying jobs, one surely cannot ignore the tremendous monetary cost. When people become desperate, and are forced to turn to criminal activity to survive, that costs everyone a lot of money. And when people are literally driven insane, due to economic suffering with no way out, they react in ways which cost everyone a lot of money. And when people fall into homelessness, and are treated as subhuman and “swept” repeatedly, that costs a lot of money.
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Based on your latest post, I’ve determined you and I share similar life experiences,
But where our paths diverge is when you chose to be cantankerous . . . google it . . . And I decided to stop complaining and actively do something to improve my situation
You’re several years younger than me
Yet my older colleagues don’t whine as much as you
I understand that tariffs have been put on an island only inhabited by penguins. This should help the domestic tobacco industry as Willy the Penguin’s Kool cigarette prices will increase dramatically. (Do any of you old timers remember the commercial "Willy the Penguin says ‘Smoke Kool’?)
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Well, as they said tongue-in-cheek on The Simpsons, “we pledge allegiance to the flag, and the flag is made in China”. Although if that episode were made today, the flag would be made in Vietnam or Cambodia or Pakistan, because even China no longer offers cheap enough labor, nor lax enough labor laws and environmental laws to appease sweatshop owners.
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No one is mentioning the reason insurance is going up,up,up. Maybe its because a F150 taillight costs 2400 dollars from ford.
Maybe its because all the systems cost a boatload to fix.
Maybe, just naybe the costs have gotten high because the complexity is too high. It certainly plays a factor.
I remember my old flat bed ford needed a taillight after i knocked it off, I spent 6.99 on a new one.
This nonsense has gotten out of hand
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IMO insurance repair costs, both parts and labor, are why premium costs are increasing. The average new car cost in February 2025 was $48,641. That increases premium costs too.
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Hit the nail on the head!
Ive also notoced around here we no longer reskin doors or put new bedsides on pickup boxes. Any panel that hets damaged they tend to replace with a cheap replacement.
But its still cheaper to use labor to for a panel. The problem is the labor is not as skilled as ot once was.
I remember a bodyshop called smittys, that guy could reskin a door like you have never seen. He was even doing lead work up until the 1990s. He also was proficient with modern body fillers.
And before the naysayers start on saying he died from the lead, well you are correct, his step son and him had an argument and his step son shot him. Some say the wife was in on it. But we will never really know. Smitty did like to run his mouth when he was drinking.
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Look at it this way, in 1970 Ford Motor Company made a new groundbreaking vehicle, the Maverick. There was an edict, under 2000lbs, under 2000 dollars.
That vehicle would cost 16k today, but with a Ford using cheap foreign parts i have figured that same Maverick would cost 10k today.
Cheap economical transportation for 10k! A chicken in every pot if you will. How far we have fallen.
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We don’t even have to go back to the 1970s.
Here is a brochure for the 1992 Chevrolet Corsica:
Here is a magazine ad for a 1991 Dodge Shadow:
Here is a magazine ad for a 1992 Ford Tempo:
All of these offered comfortable and reliable transportation at a price which average people could afford. These models also offered decent safety features and performance for their day.
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That Dodge Shadow would cost $24,167 today, the exact same price as a new Corolla. I know which one I’d buy. If I didn’t want a Corolla, there are over 1000 new cars within 30 miles from me for under $25,000. The Corsica would cost the same.
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I had a 1991 Corsica LT with the 3.1L V6 and 5-speed manual trans. There are numerous cars built today that I would rather have in hat cost less than $25,000 and have better access to parts.
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My cousin owned a Ford Maverick
It was the worst car she ever had
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I think that many/most folks’ nostalgia has converted the cars of yesteryear into machines that were much more reliable/durable than they really were. I was a passenger in a friend’s Maverick, and the 3 year old POS broke down twice while we were driving to Florida.
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It seems alot of bad memories of the Maverick. I had 2 and they were good cars, one was very rusty and broke down alot but it was worn out by the time i got it. Then I had a 74, it was a 4 door very nice condition. It was reliable.
I just love Mavericks, they were stylish cars. The interiors still had some of the 60s styling with a touch of 70s blended in. Hard to believe they were based on the Falcon chassis which was designed in the 1950s.
The Maverick was a sign of the peak good old days. You could work as a checker at a grocery store and afford a stylish new Maverick.
The new Maverick was supposed to be 20k, a nice, stylish affordable vehicle, however the greedy dealers wouldn’t let that happen. You have to make at least 50k a year to afford a new Maverick. No grocery store stocker can afford that!
Its amazing how far we have fallen in 55 years.
Thanks for the funniest thing I’ll hear all day.
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In all fairness, I think that this was just as humorous:
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