Finance, Forex and Investments

How to get more things that are "Made In America" or "Made in Your Country of Residence"?

You see people lamenting how everything is made in China, India, or some "third world country where they use slave labor" (I'm using words I hear, it's not mine nor does it reflects my feelings on buying from third world countries.). Why don't people start a "Made in America" store/website, organization that support American companies and provide resources that point consumers to American made products or establish a company that provides products that are usually made oversea? I understand the cost issue and I don't mind buying from overseas where the labor is cheap and the cost of living is equally low, however, since there seems to be a real demand for it so why aren't there American alternatives to oversea products? Is it because people simply don't care enough to pay a higher premium for goods made in your home country? If your national pride stops at your pocketbook, then you should probably stop whining. Or is it because there are no people with enough capital (I seriously doubt this) to establish something? Or maybe for other reasons? I'm all for free trade;however, it makes me wonder whenever this issue pops up. Albert, I completely agree; however, that's not the answer I was looking for. Was a finance major. Natasha B, awesome.

Public Comments

1. No We can't. Those days are over. America does not make anything anymore.
2. Give tax credits to companies that make things other countries do not. So if we invest in tax credits for green tech - we will have things no on has. That is why investing in NASA and the NSF is better than investing in US military bases in Europe... Free Trade is another great solution to our problem. Let’s say it is easier to produce steel in South Korea. If this was true, manufacturing businesses would move to South Korea, causing unemployment for steel workers to go up. But, the price for producing steel would go down. This in return would make it cheaper to import steel for American businesses. Prices would go down, allowing businesses here to employ more people because steel products would be cheaper. With the prices for steel products being lower, the consumer will have extra money in their pockets when they buy a steel product. This will allow them to buy other products, thus giving a boost in demand to other goods and services. It’s a one-two punch combo that helps American businesses and the American consumer. What about the steel workers who lose their jobs? They could look for a new job. If we were to impose tariffs to protect them, the opposing country would do the same, thus leading to an increase in prices abroad. With this increase in prices, businesses would employ less and the consumer would buy less. Losing low income jobs to Free Trade is nothing, just look at the average standard of living for Chinese and Indian citizens. They have all the low income jobs they want and yet the average citizens in those countries live a worse life style than the average poor American citizen. It is clear; Free Trade is good for us, because it increases competition abroad by forcing our business to compete with international businesses. Under Free Trade, internal monopolies will disappear and international monopolies will cease to exist because the amount of competition will be too great for any monopoly to exist. At the same time it makes the cost of importing and exporting cheaper. Overall, Free Trade is good for us… Bush increased tariffs of steel and we ended up with higher prices and less jobs...
3. It has to happen, but it is extremely hard to find American Products right now. I am treating them as collectibles.
4. Did you know that walmart was a 'made in America' only store? Sam Walton is spinning in his grave!
5. all the soxs that u buy are made here in U.S thats about it tho and weapons
6. Not many has bothered to take the initiative. A lot of it is all talk, they b*tch and moan about it, then stock up on all that crap they just bemoaned at walmart. Google made in America products and you will find companies dedicated to just that.
7. That "solution" is as old as the hills. It does nothing to restore U.S. jobs and secure workers' wages. The only way jobs and wages can be protected is by a global labor movement and the taking of political power by the working class. Dollar devaluation and the working class 13 October 2009 World Socialist Web Site http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/pers-o13.shtml Excerpt: The process by which the US closed down its manufacturing facilities and farmed out production to cheap labor havens around the world—which produced the unsustainable reliance of the US on infusions of credit from surplus nations such as China and Japan—is to be reversed. Industry in the US is to be revived, but on the basis of the destruction of the wages, working conditions and living standards of the working class. The US is to become a low-cost producer of goods for the world market. The American working class is to experience levels of exploitation which it hasn’t faced in a century. Its wages and living standards are to be brought more closely in line with those faced by the super-exploited workers of Asia. This policy of class war underlies Obama’s assault on the jobs and wages of auto workers, his refusal to provide aid to bankrupt states and localities, and his drive to gut health care benefits for workers and attack entitlement programs, beginning with Medicare. America will once again set an example for world capitalism—by serving as the model for similar attacks on the workers of every country. The working class of the United States, however, has no intention of submitting to its own impoverishment. The stage is being set for a revival of the class struggle in the US and internationally on a colossal scale.
8. In a free market, we have the right as consumers to purchase the best product for the price that it costs. It doesn't matter where it comes from. If for example, U.S. automobile companies aren't creating a product with a certain quality for the price that is charged, I will look for foreign cars that have higher quality for the amount of money I will pay. In short, I am looking for the most "bang for my buck" and if I start only buying American made products then I am essentially limiting my choices as a consumer.
9. Price for the most part. People do not prefer the products made overseas but they don't want to pay the much higher prices for the things made here that would serve the same purpose. The question we really need to ask ourselves is why are our products more expensive? The resources needed to make the products are the same in both places. (I am talking minerals, iron ore, petroleum, chemicals used for plastics etc) So what adds to the costs? Easy. It is labor. American laborors are paid much much more for the jobs they do when compared to what those workers overseas get. And yes, I blame unionization of industry for this. Not that unions did not at one time have a valuable place in our society. They did. Originally, they were designed to protect the worker from working under unsafe conditions or under unfair practices. Today, it is all about money and benefits. Do you realize that if it hadn't been for unions, NO employer would be giving their people health insurance? That may sound like a plus for the unions, but think about it. Your employer has to pay for your health insurance (or at least part of it) so he in turn charges more for his product. Same thing goes for retirement benefits, paid vacations etc. Unions took advantage of companies and other companies had to follow suit even if they were not unionized in order to get and keep employees. Today's $20 an hour job buys no more than did my $1 an hour job forty years ago. Bread was 25 cents, gas was 25 cents a gallon, cigarettes also 25 cents a pack etc. A candy bar was a nickel. A pair of roller skates was $1.50. So what I have earned today really does not give me a higher quality of life because everything costs that much more. If you want to see Americans buy American, then find a way to lower everyone's wages by 90% (other than through taxes) and you will see the prices come down on their own.