So many companies are giving up on the US Consumer...

[nadinbrzezinski]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-consumers-overseas-20110808,0,6193915,full.story

Here are some things that need to happen, at the policy level... and if things (when) get bad enough... you may just see them. I know they sound imposible right now due to the toxic environment in the US Congress.

1.- Any US Company that does this needs to have it's ability to do unencumbered business taken away. Whether you are Nike, or Apple or Daewood... you will be treated the same way. You are now a FOREIGN COMPANY and will be TAXED on imports the same way... and that means high. Yes I fear the age of isolationism is coming.

2.- We will need to rebuild our economy. So we need to use a few principles from that real capitalism. They go something like this.

Monopolies are against the law, so any company that grows over a certain point WILL be broken down. Yes that means you Newscorp.

Labor needs to be paid a LIVING wage, chapter ten of The Wealth of Nations goes into why... he got it.

Labor needs to have a seat in the management of any company... funny, we imposed this on Germany after the end of the war. time to do it to ourselves.

The US will have to pull out of free trade agreements, and actually impose some pretty serious tariffs to protect an emerging economy.

We need to ENCOURAGE the development of GREEN technologies.

FULL employment must be the goal once again.

3.- This is more spiritual, we need to change our values and place community ahead of wealth accumulation and the worship of private property as the ultimate thing needs to end. Good luck on that one, since it goes back to oh the 15th century England, but we need to try.


This means things like a real reform of medical care (Medicare for all) needs to happen, as well as STRONG public education. Oh and get the religious nuts out of that business.

4- Corporate personhood needs to go... period.

But we need to start thinking on these things and how we rebuild after the reboot. Our lovely monopolies want to move on... it is actually an opportunity to rebuild our society, and to try, for once, to learn the lesson and put things in there that will prevent this from happening again.

[Skittles]

1. and there you have it

US companies turning America into a third-world nation

[OhioChick]

2. Just as planned n/t

[Skittles]

5. they send our jobs overseas, then complain we are not buying enough

and the Wall Street Journal can print an article regarding WHERE DID THE JOBS GO without ever using the word OUTSOURCE - and we have a president who thinks only crap-factory work gets pimped offshore - we are sooooo FUCKED

[Mimosa]

8. Skittles, you nailed it.

Undeniable facts.

[ixion]

7. and once it's complete

and the US has been reduced to a Banana Republic, then they start hiring here... at a 50% or greater pay cut.

This is the plan, I believe.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. I dont think we will get there

I foresee the law of unintended taking over... and soon. Hubby and I were talking about it... riots will not shock us

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. It is time we think how to fight back and what to push

[dbonds]

4. Now those are good planks for our platform.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Any party that starts running on living wages

and full employment (and carries through) will win elections.

Any party that runs on the end of monopolies...

In other words this is a populist agenda.

[Ikonoklast]

9. Tariff wars and isolationism will kill this economy quicker than anything currently happening.

Start imposing tariffs and the half of the S&P 500 that derives approximately 50% of their gross revenue from EXPORTING from this country will be obliterated by the resulting tariffs imposed by other countries in retaliation.

You want to see lost jobs?

That would do it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Yep, because NAFTA has worked so well

:sarcasm:

[tsuki]

11. Tariff's should be equal. China charges 25% on an American vehicle.

America charges 2.5%. I fail to see why.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. And we should charge Apple the same exact 25%

to send their computers to the US.. or Nike, or Daewood...

:-)

[Populist_Prole]

14. Low tariffs and globalization has already killed this economy

I know the conventional wisdom of inside the beltway economists are to fear a trade war, and no I don't want to see lost jobs, but I have already, thanks to the trade deficit. Our "exports" ( such as they are ) are dwarfed by the imports. It should be mercantilist economies exporting to the US that should fear a trade war more than than one experiencing trade deficits.

Globalism hasn't produced the good results from a theoretical comparative advantage. It's just been used by rent seekers using labor arbitrage to fatten their bottom lines. OK, so the cost of imports will go up. Domestic goods down. Good. If someone really has their hearts set on an imported item, they deserve to be skint in the process.

Angry rant over.

[jwirr]

15. That sounds good Nadin, I just hope we get the chance to do it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. I fear we will have to take that onto our own hands

lean times are coming... how we respond... and that is what I mean by taking it onto our own hands.

[jwirr]

17. I know but I am afraid of corporatism. They do not fight fair.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Yeah but the law of unintended consequences is starting to take hold

[Selatius]

19. I favor a system of bilateral trade agreements as opposed to one-size-fits-all free trade.

Yes, trade to take advantage of comparative advantage is not a bad thing, but on the same token, a region should also balance that with the ability to be self-sufficient ("autarky"), at least as far as food and manufacturing capacity go. If there were ever another war on the scale of World War 2 that occurs, it will become painfully apparent which nation best balanced comparative advantage with autarky whenever trade routes become blocked off by naval blockades or some other obstacle. Trade agreements shouldn't be ratified for the sole purpose of global labor arbitrage, but that seems to be the only real driving force behind most trade agreements.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. You mean like it used to be?

and things like labor protections should be automatic

[swilton]

21. Perhaps this will stimulate production by local economies

Many of these companies just produced crap/manufactured needs anyway.