I just listened to a news discussion about American jobs, the theme was manufacture in America, buy American made, support American jobs – good paying jobs they said.
At the same time the American political left wants a $20.00 an hour minimum wage and Sen Sanders wants a mandatory 35 hour work week with no pay cut.
Corporate profits are being attacked as greedy with no regard for what profits mean for the economy, for investors including most average Americans relative to future retirement security.
And then there is the impact on inflation and on buying power relative to higher prices.
Made in America, buy American sounds good, in fact is good, but we need to understand how all elements of our economy are connected.
There is no free lunch.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Brother Quinn, I have a little trouble dugout just what you were getting at. The topics seem a little disjointed. I don’t get the tie in between Sanders and the 20 dollar per hour minimum and made in America. I don’t pay attention to Bernie since he is a confirmed socialist who doesn’t do work in the real world. Likewise some of the $20 per hour minimum folks don’t live in the real world, like the California governor who is trying to knock over the restaurant business out there.
I don’t believe the 40 hour work week is sacrosanct however. A 35 hour week with no pay cut would shut up the minimum wage harpies. Productivity would have to rise though to keep it affordable but that’s doable. In my decades of work I saw time wasted and wasted some myself and that goes for the management levels also.
I’ve got no beef with corporate profits because I do like the dividends and capital gains are a blessing also. In fact, I don’t know anyone who has a beef with corporate profits except some socialists like Bernie and college students who are too ignorant right now to know which side their bread is buttered on.
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The connection I’m trying to make is on one hand we want to push for more American made products and on the other there are calls for changes that will increase the cost of labor which is all ready higher than major foreign competitors – at least from Asia and South America. In other words higher prices for Americans.
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I believe that with the use of robotics and other technological improvements that US labor can make a pretty good showing as far as productivity. Some things we can’t improve to keep wages down is we have a higher cost of living so that means higher labor cost and better laws like OSHA add costs. It makes sense to leave some manufacturing offshore, textiles for example.
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The state of the modern world economies is highly interdependent. That’s why it’s so confusing. Manufactured goods made in the US will be comparatively more expensive due to higher labor and regulatory costs. But if overseas jobs in other countries are lost, there’s more immigration pressures upon countries such as the US which is struggling with the enormous influx already. Better paying jobs and standards of living are attractive to both US citizens as well as encouraging more immigration. This all leads into inflationary pressures that leads to the call for higher and higher wages that leads to higher prices for everything. Throw in the ever increasing state and Federal spending for all the support services and it turns into a dizzying spiral that really has no resolution.
Am I confusing you further?
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Yep, everyone says buy American made products but no one wants to pay for American made products!
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(Water) seeks its own level.So does granite, eventually.
Inequality, and especially extreme inequality is not sustainable, either within countries (USA, for example) or between countries. Auto workers in USA make as much in one hour as Mexican auto workers make in a day.
Eventually, wages in Mexico and other countries will have to increase, or American wages decrease, or both. Cost of living in other countries is much lower, that will change also… The great leveling. It is inevitable.
It’s a great country. I’m glad I was born here. I worked hard. And I was lucky.
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