As we are addicted to oil, so too do we have a monkey on our back in our lust for Chinese manufactured goods. And despite lead in the toys and toxic chemicals in their foodstuffs, nothing slows the rising tide of Sino-goods. But 99cent mops and other such cheap folderol comes at a very high price, as China does not play fair. Through currency manipulation it manages to effectively maintain high tariffs on imports while at the same time subsidizing its own exports. My favorite economist explains how this policy works in the New York Times today.
I've worried about this issue for a long time. Just as manufacturing jobs disappeared from New England to move to the South, they have now left the South to low-wage nations around the world. It is impossible to end recessions without an abundance of such jobs, and they of course require markets, both domestic and foreign. China, the world's biggest market, is an old-fashioned mercantilist society. And we don't care?
So I proudly display my 1990, Hand Made in Somerville, Massachusetts, Fat City Cycle Monster Fat mountainbike. However, you can't buy one. The company went out of business in the 90's -seems bike customers preferred to save a few bucks by buying imported bikes from.....you guessed it.... China.
My father worked all of his able working life at Stanley Tools in New Britain, CT. In the past twenty years, since Stanley Tools outsourced all of it's workforce overseas,New Britain, CT has become a crime infested crumbling small city whose unemployment rate is staggering. A similar story was depicted in Michael Moore's film Roger and Me over 20 years ago. I wish people would open their eyes, and see what our greedy corporations have done to our Main Streets. If we continue down this path,our country's future is certainly in jeopardy. Michael Moore warned us 20 years ago, and we did not listen. We will be responsible for the turmoil and struggles of our children and grandchildren for our complacency.
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