Efficiency has never been a sign of third-world status, or decline in an economy.
When society produces something at a lower cost, society benefits. That benefit may be distributed in unfair ways, but that can always be evened out through taxation.
Posted by BYuCnslr (Member # 1857) on :
If and only if those in power allow for taxation. Satyagraha
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Well, I won't argue the economics. But lower cost all too often goes hand-in-hand with poor quality. Which is fine IF the consumer can easily determine that they're choosing the 'bargain' brand, and IF there are other choices. Unfortunately, those are frequently not the case.
Posted by jack (Member # 2083) on :
You know, when I read this article last month, I had to chuckle to myself. I'm sure 20 years ago, there were out of work Americans that were making the same complaint this town is now making. It just struck me as amusing at the time. It must suck to be, basically, slave labor and be underbid on jobs. Pretty soon, the only jobs left in America will be service jobs.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
That's what concerns me. Cheap labour is all well and good but sooner or later Americans may not even be able to afford to buy the products if all the jobs go overseas. Too many of these companies think about short term gain and not the long term.
Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
But you're forgetting that there are American business owners as well as American workers. And while greater efficiency may hurt the workers, it will help the business owners, who will benefit from the extra productivity. Thus, fewer jobs does not mean Americans won't be able to afford stuff.
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
I wonder whether there are any long term benefits to giving tax breaks to companies that don't use "offshoring" for their factories and tech support centers.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
"And while greater efficiency may hurt the workers, it will help the business owners, who will benefit from the extra productivity. Thus, fewer jobs does not mean Americans won't be able to afford stuff."
This logic only applies if you assume that the business owners who are profiting are investing those profits in America. The central idea here, however, is that they are not.