This is 100%, the fact the US can barely manufacturer face masks during a global pandemic is embarrassing.
On the other end, how do you compete with slave labor in the Chinese factories?
On the other end, how do you compete with slave labor in the Chinese factories?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/in-the-early-d...
> "In the end, the government did not take Bowen up on his offer. Even today[May 9, 2020], production lines that could be making more than 7 million masks a month sit dormant."
That article was published in May 9. Even on May 9, the production lines were dormant. How could this happen? It is unfathomable. The country probably had masks shortage since March. It is so hard to believe some of the things that happened this year.
There are plenty of countries with worse working conditions yet but people seem to stick with china.
Trading blocs that ensure minimum working conditions. Companies which pay the worker a decent wage should get favorable tax treatment and procurement.
So China will just ship the goods to another country and change the Made in label. Some middle man will make money and nothing will change.
As for mass produced surgical masks? Yeah we don't have the manufacturing base for that sort of thing anymore unfortunately.
And honestly, by about April this year when China started having the virus under control and reopened their manufacturing sector at full capacity, it’s a good thing they were equipped to manufacture so many essential items. The US started running into capacity problems with some of the industries we do have like meat processing plants, if we relied more heavily on domestic manufacturing we actually would have been worse off over that period.
I'm sure that after you adjust for cost of living, the numbers more or less look equal. However, keep in mind that manufacturing is leaving Shenzhen because of rising wages.
Sources:
Shenzhen Annual Salaries: http://www.sz.gov.cn/en_szgov/news/latest/content/post_78894...
US Annual Salaries: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes519199.htm
Shenzhen Manufacturing (it's a news story, but you can find a ton of them with the same theme): https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3108207/c...
Have as your "goal" less the desire to "win" the global competition for corporate profits & corporate headquartering of multinationals in your nation simply on grounds of labor/profit competitiveness, and take a more nationalist view of, where necessary, having state run enterprises or "free market" competition within your borders but not complete free trade in a global sense.
In other words, do no necessarily pursue as your goal to structure economy either to have most profitable companies that reduce costs by moving labor around the world to find cheapest workers, or those which try to export the most. Have as your goal at least to produce domestically as much as possible to satisfy domestic consumption demands, as well as having some minimal threshold of employed domestic workers.
As it stands, US has a massive trade deficit, and a decades long decline in working age male population, especially in "flyover" US regions where manufacturing has declined the most while not being replaced by equivalent jobs. These regions also have declining population, rising suicide & opiate death rates, declining family formation / birthrates.
The "telos" of our society should not put as its "end" an economy, especially one which pursues profit above all.
The economy should be a tool in service to outcomes we actually desire.
Like software built to do a job, not simply designed for the production of specific features.
This is where global financial capitalism (as the US has a giant capital surplus which balances its trade deficit) needs to be called into question.
Internal free markets is one thing. But not having a national industrial policy which prioritizes the well being of domestic workers and their families over well being of multinational corporations and banks makes our system quite degenerate over time.
People should really take a few minutes and watch these 2 videos explaining the current account[0] and capital account[1] relationship, and understand that how we operate now is a political choice, which has massive consequences on who benefits of this system accrue to, and who pays the costs of this system.
This system is maintained by having the reserve currency and the state using strong efforts over many years to not only maintain this GRC but strengthen it, not allowing the natural devaluation of the $ that would close these 2 imbalances and more closely balance capital and labor.
Also, it is not a requirement to have a well developed economy and run massive trade deficits or not have a thriving industrial sector. Germany and Japan are 2 examples that do not run giant trade deficits like the US [3]
https://youtu.be/dirBYVjDk7A [0]
https://youtu.be/AimYG1jYD0A [1]
https://www.conradbastable.com/essays/the-germany-shock-the-... [3]
The blind pursuit of efficiency optimizes for the macro numbers at the expense of gutting the structure of the labor market and lived experience of people.
It’s far better to have a lower per capita GDP with a more equitable distribution of resources (such as a higher household income across quantiles)
It seems clear that some level of tariffs, caps on FDI, etc are “good inefficiencies” if done correctly.
In the countries with low GDPs and highly equitable distribution of resources -- North Korea, East Germany, Cuba, the Soviet Union, for example -- the border guards' job is to prevent people from escaping.