Since you brought that up, allow me to bring this up:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?

tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031204/bs_nm/autos_ford_dc_1

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...256DDC00069BC3

http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosins...a01-324346.htm

Although what IBM is doing is IMHO really screwed up (training your replacements before you are layed off?!!), I disagree with the doom & gloom outlook.

Also college degree isn't automatically an employment for life guarantee any more than someone who went through apprenticeship training in a trade.

 

That doesn't surprise me at all. They have a lot of good deals for very dependable cars.

 

LOL I feel bad for you, Just about all Hondas sold in the US are Amarican Made as are most "***" cars. VWs are made in Mexico.

Not a free market? last I checked I could buy any car I wanted

 

60 years ago, large American companies took pride in what they built and how they did it. Today, the management of US corporations have replaced patriotism with profiteering, often camouflaged under the cover of "best returns to the shareholder". In yesteryear, there was virtually no interest (or very little) in having anything designed, built, or serviced offshore. We even paid a premium to have the resources expensed in America. Could you imagine a US Naval Ship built in China? Our fighters built in India? For heaven's sake, look at the TVA projects, the Hoover Dam project, and numerous other economic turnaround projects in our past... Did we contract and hire OUTSIDE the US to get these projects done - HELL NO!!! Putting OUR people to work is what made our country the economic powerhouse that it is today. But I can plainly see that the trend for the last 15-20 years is not one of continued economic growth and prosperity for us. And if it continues as it has for the last decade, we will live to see most of our (children's) generation struggle for healthcare and basic existence - MARK MY WORDS.

Not flaming you guionM, just "digging a little bit deeper" into the data to see what's really going on beyond our immediate sight.
Like yourself, I won't make claims I don't beleive or can't back up!

 

Here are signs that it's getting even worse at an alarming rate...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._nm/economy_dc
Notice guionM, we just came off of a record growth quarter here in the US, and we still lost ground.
What more signs do we need to take this seriously?

Guys, I EMPLORE YOU ALL...
PLEASE BUY WITH YOUR CONSCIENCE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!!!

Every dollar is going to make a difference. We are slowly sliding into third-world status here in the states, where there are two classes - the elite/wealthy, and the peasants. Corruption will be intolerable. The middle class families that work 40-hour jobs in manufacturing, hosiery, mills, and the like are disappearing. And though I have nothing against McDonalds, it's damn hard to raise a family these days with health care and benefits by asking "You want fries with that?".

I'm watching business after business close up around here, from manufacturing to job shops to retail merchants - all because jobs are going away - "OFFSHORE" away, not "slow economy" away.
5 of the 7 able workers in my immediate family have lost their jobs in the last 2 years, in all sectors. BSBA, AS, AB degrees as well as basic plant workers. All different companies. 3 of the 5 we know went offshore - 2 to Asia, one to Central America.
5 out of 7 in my own family, and somebody is going to preach to me about 6% unemployment?!?!

Maybe I am preaching "doom and gloom" and don't want to admit it, but I really think it's coming for America, and we are the very ones encouraging it with our "it don't matter where it's made" attitude. For our own sake, as well as that of our children and grandchildren, we better wake up and get real, or we will be watching our kids go without the health and luxuries we all have come to know, I PROMISE. I see it around me already.

Remember, the entire world thought Rome was invincible and would never fall too, but we know better now don't we?
And it did not fall to any "aggressor" or wars either.
Economical might is as powerful as any gun when used correctly.

 

Rome fell because it was over extended, grew too big to be effectively managed, it's military was too stretched thin to guard the country (most all it's neighbors hated the Rome), and it divided into 2, with 2 separate rulers, ruling the eastern & western empire respectively (where we get the term "the western world"). The rural & relatively poor Western Roman empire disintergrated, while the Eastern Empire (which happened to sit on major "far east" trade routes, prospered for many centuries, eventually went Islamic, and became the Ottoman Empire, which lasted till World War 1.


But back to the article you posted, note:

There is far and away more to all this than someone buying a Toyota, Nissan, BMW, or Honda build in the United States.

1. The dollar is strong, which means the cost of our products is relatively high and the cost of others is low. Fewer buy our stuff, and that contributes to the trade deficit.

2. Most all our oil is imported. Even though we get far less of our oil from the middle east than Europe, we still buy it from outside the US. At the moment, we are paying a ton of money on the open market for it. That contributes to the trade deficit.

The United States is still the world's biggest exporter by value of goods exported. The only country on the planet that even comes close to the value of goods we export is Germany. The next highest exporter is Japan, but they only export just over half of what we do.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/eco_exp

It's sad to hear about businesses closing down in your area, but things change and people move away to other places. Your area (and my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA) may see businesses close, and the area become depressed, and much of the population move elsewhere, but other areas grow & do just fine.

Sure your area may seem like it's going through hard times, but there are plenty of other places that have had a serious boom when a new factory springs up.

Georgetown, KY., Huntsville, AL., Columbus In., Marysville Oh., and no fewer than 17 other small cities & towns (mostly in the south) have seen a serious boom due to foreign owned automakers setting up shop employing over 60,000 people (roughly equal to the total number of textile industry jobs lost since 1998.... including those jobs lost to increased productivity as well as to foreign labor).
http://www.census.gov/epcd/susb/1999...313.HTM#table1
http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/a...03jan/AUTO.htm

If an area is diversified or can adapt to changing events and a changing world, it'll be just fine. If not, then it's going to be hit hard.

 

Since were off topic anyways, I just saw a program on 20/20 or 60 minutes(?I came in at the middle..) Where even heart and brain surgery MRI's etc are sourced out to India, 3D'd and analyzed, then results are sent back to America the next day at 1/3rd the cost here. Even what was once the MOST secure white collar jobs are being "Outsourced" to countries like India, at an alarming rate!...How can we compete with 3rd world countries for wages, with a MUCH higher "Cost of Living"???
We've become so intent on saving a few dollars here and there, we have disregarded who it hurts in the long run..

***Think of this; when a company pays workers less money for goods/services, those workers/consumers have less to spend for said goods or services of that company...Then that company must cut even more, BUT then the worker has even less money to spend...SO,o,o,o, guess what.....pretty soon you have "cut" your own throat, economically speaking..

To have a successful "One World Market" we have to ALL be on the same playing field. If companies want to "Outsource" then a Minimum average wage for services rendered MUST be SET just as in the Medical field by Insurances, or it will all self destruct....it's inevitable..

 

Oh, about Toyota, I'm not surprised, their vehicles have become so comprimised you can lose your car in McDonalds parking lot.. It's just "good transportation" nothing exciting, or inspiring...even their sportscar Celica is just...there!...kinda like the Worlds "work car" or "Taxi"...

 

I agree... they make damn good cars when it comes to comfort, reliability, and practicality. But driving excitement is unfortunately lost in the process.

Thus why I decided to buy what I drive now. A Toyota... with a bit of a kick.

 

I love you guys as my fellow Americans, and I refuse to let this issue die until the depth of it is clearly understood.

So here we go again...

Still feel that way?

Check this out...
Tech Companies Focus on Asia to Expand Jobs
Quote - "[i]Executives speaking at the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecommunications Summit in New York said they see increased hiring in countries like India and China, but few jobs will be added in the United States. "

"... chief executive of technology services provider Electronic Data Systems Corp. (NYSE:EDS - news) said EDS's number of employees in low-cost locations like India will rise to 20,000 from 9,000, by 2006."

"...chief executive of network products maker 3Com Corp. (NasdaqNM:COMS - news) said the company's joint-venture with Huawei Technologies of China will add 1,000 engineers, all supplied by Huawei."


PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE. Slowly and clearly.
There is something wrong with this picture.

Why should I send my kid to an expensive college for 4-8 years so she can flip a burger for min-wage or be a maid in a billionaire's house? In a service-oriented market, there is but a minimal premium put on higher education, and there is virtually NO reason for persuit of technology, or the education required to execute that persuit.

I am troubled by these trends, and it is the fat-cat top-level CEO's and Board Members who are making these decisions to take these jobs overseas - all for the mighty dollar.
The bastards are selling us out - do you not see that?

To those late-comers in this thread, go back and read pages 2 and 3, and you will be right up to speed for this last post.