On my Facebook home page today was this from one of my friends who is a good deal to the left of my political position, but intelligent and thoughtful. Here is what she forwarded:
Obama Wants to End Tax Breaks for Companies that Move Jobs Overseas
www.politicsdaily.com
Business interests and even some Democrats worry about President Obama's insistence on ending tax credits and closing loopholes enjoyed by firms that create jobs overseas. They fear it could put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage.
www.politicsdaily.com
Business interests and even some Democrats worry about President Obama's insistence on ending tax credits and closing loopholes enjoyed by firms that create jobs overseas. They fear it could put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage.
Emotionally, I am all for this. (And, note that this is nearly year-old news, dated October 2010) But I frankly don't know enough about business dynamics to say for sure that this is a good idea or that we should definitely do it. It seems like the right thing to do - reward companies that create jobs here, companies that employ Americans.
But, can we do that and remain competitive? America used to be a technology leader. In R&D we may still hold the edge. But most of the consumer technology, including the laptop I'm typing on, was made overseas and that is probably why I could afford to buy one each for Ana and me.
Products made by Americans -- especially ones in union jobs -- tend to be more expensive -- sometimes a lot more expensive -- than those made elsewhere. Some Americans have demonstrated a willingness to buy goods that are American made, paying more for them. But can American companies flourish selling only to a hard-core of American consumers? I just don't know.
I own a few replicas of 19th century Colt revolvers . They are made by Uberti, now a subsidiary of Beretta, in Italy. Retail they cost around $500 to $600. A currently-made Colt will set you back twice that, at least. And the other 1873 SAA clone, also made in the US by United States Firearms in the old Colt factory in Hartford, CT costs about the same. They are quality firearms, but at twice the price, are they twice as good? In my opinion, not really.
For guns that will be used frequently and fairly hard, a Single Action Shooting Society shooter has to make a choice. Now to be fair, there is an American-made gun suitable for use in SASS that doesn't cost the earth. Rugers are competitive with the Italian clones, but their interior lockwork is more modern. They only make a limited range of styles, so if you want something a little different -- my taste runs to replicas of early cartridge conversions, for instance -- the Italians are the only game in town.
Cimarron Richard's-Mason Conversion 1851 Colt replica
Some of the off-shore-based car companies have done well and kept prices competitive by making the most popular models, the ones that sell best here, in American factories with mostly non-union American workers. They are willing to take a much smaller profit margin in order to do it, but it is being done. (I learned about the profit margin when I was recently looking for a new car. When I sold cars in 1985, the typical mark-up was 14% over invoice. I told that to the sales manager and he showed me the invoice. It was about half that. Times change.) Many of the parts of those cars are made overseas, but that is true even of American name-brand cars. The popular Dodge Hemi engine? Made in Canada. My Subaru Legacy, a 1993 model, was made in Japan, but other Legacys were and are made in Lafayette, Indiana.
As I recall, the first car that was sold in the US that had a truly international pedigree was the Ford Escort, produced from parts sourced from pretty much all of Ford's subsidiaries around the world and built in the US, Canada and Mexico from 1981 until 2003. During that period, lots of other Ford cars had parts from overseas, and I remember that the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor our department got in 1999 had lots of engine parts labeled "Hecho en Mexico."
So, it is possible to make a car in the US, sourcing parts from here and elsewhere and using American labor and sell them at a competitive price in the US. I don't honestly know if any of those cars are sold outside the US.
Can we make other things here and make them affordable? I really don't know. When I was a kid, radios, TVs, refrigerators, stoves and most other household electrical or electronic products were made in the good ol' US of A. At some point -- the '60s, as I recall -- that began to change. I had a small transistor radio that was a birthday present when I was 14 or so from my maternal grandmother. It was an Emerson and it was made here. Shortly after that, Sony hit the market and soon, it seemed as if they dominated the consumer electronics marketplace. After that, the deluge, as they say.
The first record player the family had was an old -- circa 1930s -- Fada Cathedral Radio that got regular AM and two other bands. Fadas were made in New York and my parents bought theirs in Miami after they got married in 1939. They used to listen to the Miami police radio channel in the evenings, so I was told. My dad and one of his radio-operator buddies had wired a phone jack and a switch so it could be used with a record changer -- a Webror, as I recall. It was beautiful and sounded great, with a 12" speaker beind the grill. It served for a number of years and at some point, Dad replaced the changer with one that would handle the new 45s and LPs.
The first record player the family had was an old -- circa 1930s -- Fada Cathedral Radio that got regular AM and two other bands. Fadas were made in New York and my parents bought theirs in Miami after they got married in 1939. They used to listen to the Miami police radio channel in the evenings, so I was told. My dad and one of his radio-operator buddies had wired a phone jack and a switch so it could be used with a record changer -- a Webror, as I recall. It was beautiful and sounded great, with a 12" speaker beind the grill. It served for a number of years and at some point, Dad replaced the changer with one that would handle the new 45s and LPs.
Fada Cathedral Radio similar to ours
When the time came for me to have my own record player I went with a hand-me-down mono system from a family friend. It had hi-fi components that were, for the most part, made here in the middle '60s. In fact, when I first went stereo, my tube amplifier was made in my bedroom in Queens. It was a Knight Kit, sort of a lower-end version of the neater and more expensive Heathkits. All of my components in that system, except for the turntable, which was a British Garrard, were made in the USA. The components that replaced that system were Japanese -- Kenwood, Technics and Panasonic, as I remember -- with only the speakers -- newer Advent bookcase units to replace the older ones from the previous system -- made in America.
We didn't have a TV until after we moved to New York City and found an apartment in Queens. I had gone up the street to watch TV at a neighbor's house in New Orleans. It was probably 1952 or so when we got our first TV, a black and white unit with a 16" screen, made by Olympic in Long Island City, NY. As I recall, it was a table model, set on a stand with room underneath behind doors for storage. We never had a color set. When the Olympic died, Mom replaced it with a roll-around portable 17" Zenith, which, if I am right, was still made here.
Ours was either a Governor or Senator, shown at the bottom
Back in those days, there were dozens of American radio and TV makers, some of them with names familiar to us, today. None, so far as I know, are still made here. I recently saw an ad for a Magnavox TV -- a familiar name -- made and marketed by Funai, a major Japanese consumer electronics company. Magnavox made products in the US as late as the 1980s, but Phillips bought them and now Funai controls the brand in North America.
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