Banks sought foreign workers

[Guest lazyphil]

feck me my nike triax 12 cost be 88 quid as it is, how much higher can they go

[Steve]

If there is no middle class left to buy that Nike shoe, who is going to buy it? Eventually, this discussion of where business motives lie will turn into a class struggle between the haves and the have nots.

 

Funny you said that. I recall reading a long time ago that post civil rights people thought the future struggle will be a race war but that has not come to fruition and if there is any conflict within groups it will be economic class as well as generational (Gen Y and X v.Baby Boomer over Social Security).

 

There is a thriving, unnoticed black middle class. The latino one is growing as well at different rates depending on what group (Cuban the fastest, Puerto Rican fairly slow, Mexican at a good rate).

 

The middle class is getting squeezed and its not a color issue but a money issue. Politicians are well aware of it as you hear 'middle class tax cut' every election. The letters and emails the congress got with the original bailout is a signal of things to come.

 

Kids are staying at home with parents longer and longer partly out of necessity. In the '50s and prior it was socially unacceptable for wives to work. Now its a necessity for most couples.

 

What worries me is that even with the visceral anger that was shown to Congress about the bailout it seems a lot of them still don't get it or don't care.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Sounds to me like global equalization. The lower paid worker will get paid more and the higher paid work will get paid less, that is, if he/she gets paid.

[rchapstick]

Just what, exactly, is and "American Company". Easy to define for a business that only has commercial acitvity in the US, but big multinationals can hardly be defined as "US" or whatever.

 

Is it where their company HQ is located? That can easily be moved? Where the companies stock is traded? So what ... could be traded anywhere. Percentage of ownership by nationality? Given that most stocks are owned by institutional investors, that is hard to define.

[HeartThais]

If that means getting some Asian to work for $3 a day to make a Nike shoe instead of $20 an hour in America, guess who wins?

 

There is a difference here. I know a little about the banking industry and I highly doubt they are going overseas for low-wage labor. They may set up some development shops overseas but the vast majority of custom development is done in-house. Most likely they are recruiting international talent. It isn't uncommon to see graduates of INSEAD, LBS, Beijing University in a US bank.

 

Now as far as the Nike thing. IMO, to be logically consistent, you either believe in pure free trade and lose the concept of nationality, or you believe in nationality and adopt the concept of protectionism. I'm not talking protectionism in the most obvious sense of tariffs but leveraging the aggregate resources of a nation to gain a competitive advantage for themselves via things like R&D subsidies, education programs, recruitment programs, and yes, even direct employee subsidies. Every country should be thinking about which industries it wants to protect thinking not only about the current situation but the future. I don't think that shoes is one of those industries but I think the IT industry is one of them. Pharma, biotech, high-tech mfg, alt energy, etc. are some of the others. Americans should be doing whatever they can to keep those jobs onshore, even if that means sacrificing the mythical notion of free trade.

[Bangkoktraveler]

But hasn't free trade been the vehicle for global equalization?

[Old Hippie]

If that means getting some Asian to work for $3 a day to make a Nike shoe instead of $20 an hour in America' date=' guess who wins?

[/quote']

 

There is a difference here. I know a little about the banking industry and I highly doubt they are going overseas for low-wage labor. They may set up some development shops overseas but the vast majority of custom development is done in-house. Most likely they are recruiting international talent. It isn't uncommon to see graduates of INSEAD, LBS, Beijing University in a US bank.

 

Now as far as the Nike thing. IMO, to be logically consistent, you either believe in pure free trade and lose the concept of nationality, or you believe in nationality and adopt the concept of protectionism. I'm not talking protectionism in the most obvious sense of tariffs but leveraging the aggregate resources of a nation to gain a competitive advantage for themselves via things like R&D subsidies, education programs, recruitment programs, and yes, even direct employee subsidies. Every country should be thinking about which industries it wants to protect thinking not only about the current situation but the future. I don't think that shoes is one of those industries but I think the IT industry is one of them. Pharma, biotech, high-tech mfg, alt energy, etc. are some of the others. Americans should be doing whatever they can to keep those jobs onshore, even if that means sacrificing the mythical notion of free trade.

 

 

First off, I know nothing about economics. Ok so I was in Berkeley looking at hiking boots, which prompted a political discussion (as I said, it was in Berkeley). So I asked why, if the boots were mostly made in China, and or some dirt poor eastern European country, why they cost as much as those made in the USA?

 

After being called a sexist bigoted homphob nazi, the one guy said, "well, first it is what the market will bear." Another guy said "Well, the Chinese have pretty much eliminated the American competition, so they can more less charge what they want...the deisre for cheap goods has killed off American industry, and competiton, so now the Foreign manufacturers have us by the balls."

 

This comment offended a rather hairy lesbian who was breast feeding a baby, and she said "All borders are man made, and people should just forget about the stupid notion of borders and nationalism, and just buy all natural fibers or go around naked as god intended..."

 

In any event, I tend to think it is more the second scenario, in short, we did it to ourselves. But as has been asked, when no one has a job and or money, who will buy the cheap goods? when no one can afford travel costs, who will travel? in short, then what?

 

California has already seen the incomes go down, which means a lower tax base, which means now either services have to be cut, taxes raised, or (GASP!) Government workers will have to take a pay and benefit cut like everyone else. No pretty end in sight.

[cavanami]

http://www.store.yahoo.com/infowars-shop/comanfinrepe.html

 

Check out this link.

 

The US gov has farkin piles of $$$ and they are ripping the US citizen off!!!

 

These azzholes should be hung!

[Old Hippie]

Agreed.

[ThaiHome]

[quote name=HeartThais... So I asked why' date=' if the boots were mostly made in China, and or some dirt poor eastern European country, why they cost as much as those made in the USA?

 

...[/quote]

 

Because the US imposes rather high tarifs on imported shoes.

Link

 

TH