Canadian Built Camaro, Foreign Cars and US Jobs

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Markal

Protectionist policies would hurt us more than other countries....REALLY?
How? France has VERY protectionist policies and they are doing O.K. (for a socialist society). A very thin line indeed, China may think they own us but, what if we fall. What if the U.S. had another depression even worse than the first?....then China (and others) would fall....and have a depression. They need us....they need our money. Without our purchashing power....who else would buy? For the U.S. to purchase goods Americans must have jobs. What jobs....service....government??? Can these jobs really save the U.S? No, only blue colar jobs can save the U.S.. Lawyers, Politicians and health care workers be damned!!! It seriously boils down to who really makes the products....not just the supporters. A Lawyer usually doesn't hire another lawyer....a doctor doesn't usually ask for health advise and Politicians think they know everything so.....yes, we need all these workers but, we need manufacturing jobs more than anything else. It drives an economy...it drives a society...it drives importance in the world. Without it we are lost. Unions be damned....they want too much!!!

Uhuh.....have you ever shopped at Wal-Mart? The truth is, you would never buy an "all made in the USA" product because it would not be competitively priced in it's market segment.

Let's look at the Camaro - it is competitively priced right now to the Mustang and Challenger. Assume the manual transmission (Made in Mexico) and the wheels and tires (made in China) were made in the USA - do you think Chevrolet could sell the car for the same price it does now?

Everyone who thinks you should be putting up protectionist walls should go back to school. GM sells more vehicles outside of the United States then within it. Think about that for a bit and then think about how many American jobs would be lost if everyone in those other countries stopped buying GM.

[Markal]

You are correct Hylton, but you forget to mention GM has "joint venture" or contract agreements with foreign car manafacturers. Meaning they don't recieve the full benifit of sales or profits. Honda, Toyota, BMW etc...don't have restrictive agreements with U.S. manufacturers....why not? Some protectionist poilicies need to be in place....just as other countries require U.S. companies to meet certain requirements. It should be quid pro quo. I'm not saying put up a wall....just level the playing field a bit.

How can we as U.S. citizens continue to buy if we don't have jobs or income to make the purchase? What is the answer? Do we let foreigners work and make money and sell their goods to us at lower costs? Someday, and soon we won't be able to buy...we'll be jobless and broke!!! There has to be a balance....a fairness in all of this.

a_username: First of all, whoever says we have a free market is frankly stupid.
I said a free market isn't free...re-read my post....

a_username: Protectionism is only another form of inflation. You'll raise prices of all goods, plus you'll see unemployment rise due to the people who relied on jobs provided by foreign companies be reduced.
This is an amazing statement....Americans working for foreign companies (who make profit and take it back to their shores at our cost) will loose jobs. These same foreign companies/countries practice protectionist policies. Protectionism has not inflated the economies of Japan, China or Europe. Though the world is seeing a decline in sales and profits the U.S. seems to be getting the worst of it. If we fall....the end is near. I don't see it getting better....it will get a lot worse. God help us! I don't claim to know it all or have all the answers...I'm just watching, waiting and praying....alot. Peace!

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by Markal

You are correct Hylton, but you forget to mention GM has "joint venture" or contract agreements with foreign car manafacturers. Meaning they don't recieve the full benifit of sales or profits. Honda, Toyota, BMW etc...don't have restrictive agreements with U.S. manufacturers....why not? Some protectionist poilicies need to be in place....just as other countries require U.S. companies to meet certain requirements. It should be quid pro quo. I'm not saying put up a wall....just level the playing field a bit.

How can we as U.S. citizens continue to buy if we don't have jobs or income to make the purchase? What is the answer? Do we let foreigners work and make money and sell their goods to us at lower costs? Someday, and soon we won't be able to buy...we'll be jobless and broke!!! There has to be a balance....a fairness in all of this.

a_username: First of all, whoever says we have a free market is frankly stupid.
I said a free market isn't free...re-read my post....

a_username: Protectionism is only another form of inflation. You'll raise prices of all goods, plus you'll see unemployment rise due to the people who relied on jobs provided by foreign companies be reduced.
This is an amazing statement....Americans working for foreign companies (who make profit and take it back to their shores at our cost) will loose jobs. These same foreign companies/countries practice protectionist policies. Protectionism has not inflated the economies of Japan, China or Europe. Though the world is seeing a decline in sales and profits the U.S. seems to be getting the worst of it. If we fall....the end is near. I don't see it getting better....it will get a lot worse. God help us! I don't claim to know it all or have all the answers...I'm just watching, waiting and praying....alot. Peace!

I realize what you said, but never did I state it was you who I was referring too. You might need to re-read my post.

Complacency and the "everybody else is doing it" isn't support for any argument. However, I like how you ignored the rest of the probable strings of events that would take place from "protectionism." I've always thought it ironic how it claims to protect your economy, but yet economists have always shown it has done the exact opposite. The "economists" such as the Keynesians, Socialists, and Interventionists are more or less anti-economists, considering their whole argument are based on false assumptions of human action. Regardless, this form of inflation does not happen immediately, but it will raise the price of goods. Protectionism hasn't hurt China? It wasn't until they lifted tariffs and embraced capitalist principles that led them to become the more successful economy they are now. Protectionism, among other antieconomic policies, has led Japan's public debt to be nearly 200% of their GDP, and most of the European Union is in worse economic shape than the US. Why are you trying to follow the lead of inevitable failure, is it because ONE Japanese automotive company is doing well?