Post by haus on Aug 16, 2011 21:06:15 GMT -5
Pending any natural disasters or women killing their kids I think jobs and economy will continue to dominate the news. So how can things be turned around?
I am a little ignorant on some things but this is what I see as the problem. We live in a world dominated by imaginary money (stocks and bonds). The growth of our nation was real over the years but bussiness leaders had to continue to find ways to make more and more. They did away with pensions and gave 401Ks. Then they kept 401Ks but stopped contributing. Medical benefits decreased more and more. Once that was done they worked with congress to get NAFTA going. Now they could not only not pay as much in benefits but pay even less in wages when they moved to a foreign country. Not only were we giving away jobs we also were making poor trade agreements with other countries like china. We allowed them to supply items at much cheaper rates than American companies could compete with. So while we were losing business to other countries we also had local companies closing shop. You also had clean air regulations and other implemented that also raised the cost of doing business. These regulations of course do not have to be followed by competitors thus giving them an additional advantage. Without tort reforms local businesses could lose everything when one customer was hurt. Unions came to be and with that another cost to American businesses. Medication companies are thriving in the US because congress created laws allowing them to charge us more while nearly giving away new meds to other countries. The elected officials no longer work for us but the businesses that got them elected.
Now we are at a point where building imaginary money is coming to a stand still. What else can be done to maximize profit except get rid of employees? To turn this around we need to renegotiate trade agreements. We should actually lower the cost of tarrifs on corn imports however, to lower our food costs. We need to make changes that allow American companies to compete on a global scale. I guess lowering the value of our dollar may be congresses goal to accomplish this. When I heard Mexicans were traveling back to mexico where they have lower unemployement rates and its easier to find work I started to worry.
Sorry to be long winded, but I don't think there is a simple reason for where we are or how to get out of it.
I am a little ignorant on some things but this is what I see as the problem. We live in a world dominated by imaginary money (stocks and bonds). The growth of our nation was real over the years but bussiness leaders had to continue to find ways to make more and more. They did away with pensions and gave 401Ks. Then they kept 401Ks but stopped contributing. Medical benefits decreased more and more. Once that was done they worked with congress to get NAFTA going. Now they could not only not pay as much in benefits but pay even less in wages when they moved to a foreign country. Not only were we giving away jobs we also were making poor trade agreements with other countries like china. We allowed them to supply items at much cheaper rates than American companies could compete with. So while we were losing business to other countries we also had local companies closing shop. You also had clean air regulations and other implemented that also raised the cost of doing business. These regulations of course do not have to be followed by competitors thus giving them an additional advantage. Without tort reforms local businesses could lose everything when one customer was hurt. Unions came to be and with that another cost to American businesses. Medication companies are thriving in the US because congress created laws allowing them to charge us more while nearly giving away new meds to other countries. The elected officials no longer work for us but the businesses that got them elected.
Now we are at a point where building imaginary money is coming to a stand still. What else can be done to maximize profit except get rid of employees? To turn this around we need to renegotiate trade agreements. We should actually lower the cost of tarrifs on corn imports however, to lower our food costs. We need to make changes that allow American companies to compete on a global scale. I guess lowering the value of our dollar may be congresses goal to accomplish this. When I heard Mexicans were traveling back to mexico where they have lower unemployement rates and its easier to find work I started to worry.
Sorry to be long winded, but I don't think there is a simple reason for where we are or how to get out of it.