Cheap Products vs. High Wages... Americans Want BOTH!

Discussion in 'Economics' started by gnome, Aug 29, 2008.

  1. not 100% true

    money represents wealth, but wealth is; resources, tools and the ability to create and develop what you want with or (godlike) without those resources and tools

    the current way to do this is to increase and advance industrial robots (tools and ability), find cheaper energy sources (resources), that is what will create universal wealth, but I can also imagine why some wouldn't want that and the rest of the people wouldn't understand it's importance
     
    #11     Aug 29, 2008
  2. I agree, to get to that we need to change our educational system, specially higher education, they are very inefficient and 90% of time and money wasted on education is put to learning useless content

    most professors are old brains that can't think outside the box, they have this fixed mentality of how a university should be like, and can't get over it, with such people running and ruling these systems well I wouldn't see more capable engineers coming out of these schools

    instead of teaching what is needed and providing real training, they drive pleasure from giving out useless homework that serve no purpose, maybe it's just so much easier than being a real teacher
     
    #12     Aug 29, 2008
  3. Makloda, you have no idea what you're talking about. What studies are you quoting? They can say anything.

    And what good is an engineering competition if you have no engineering jobs? What exactly will the human capital be used for, and why exactly would other countries not have human capital extensive jobs. Ever looked how many foreigners are in american universities?
     
    #13     Aug 29, 2008
  4. the same people who whine about how jobs are being lost to developing countries are the same hypocrites who'd gladly pay $19 for a toaster oven made in china, a $150 lcd monitor made in korea, or a $14 shirt made in philippines instead of a $39 shirt made in the usa.
     
    #14     Aug 29, 2008
  5. I think Canada could have the highest GDP per capita in the world in some time...if they get over the Seperatist B.S. and stop their protectionism.

    Why do I bring up Canada in a discussion about the states? Because Canada is better positioned as a developed country in a free trading world, despite being too socialist for many. Canada has so much more human capital PER CAPITA. Everyone has a degree in engineering, finance, accounting, chemistry, etc. and the universities are much better ON AVERAGE. The very smartest people are in the U.S., no question. But the median person in Canada is a million times smarter. I have only lived in Canada for 2 years, so this isnt Canadian pride or anything.

    And, Canada benefits from a massive trade surplus with the states. The oil sands sure help with that one. So, Canada has the old world inputs, plus the human capital to develop it. I am in Chile right now, and many of the smartest engineers are trying to become citizens in Canada. The taxes are not a detterent.

    The U.S. has two problems, resulting from free trade: a current account deficit, and a population unable to make the transition to a knowledge based economy. Free markets will never take care of investment in human capital. People, left to their own devices, under invest in RELEVANT education. We are always left with less than socially optimal amounts of human capital. Why? Because people game the system, taking advanatge of assymetric information, and creating false signals by getting business degress from 4th tier crap schools. These people have no real skill, and American society misalocates resources to educate and pay salaries for people who have not added any value. You have to have collective incentives for people to get competitive, hard science based educations. Again, with free markets for education, you have a game theoretic problem where people self optimize without cooperation, and the equlibrium pay off leaves everyone worse off.
     
    #15     Aug 29, 2008
  6. Cesko

    Cesko

    You have to understand, Gnome is a resident professional whiner.:D :D
     
    #16     Aug 29, 2008
  7. gnome

    gnome

    Not "whiner"... BITCHER.... and not "professional"... I complain ONLY about the evils of the Gummint. :D

    But you don't have to listen much longer. Come October, when the FBI get's the authority for "warrantless searches" (a practice PROHIBITED by the 4th Amendment to the Constitution, if you recall), I'm going to just STFU...
     
    #17     Aug 29, 2008
  8. I don't know the exact numbers but I believe America imports about 2 trillion dollars a year of good with 1 trillion of that being oil. If they wanted to reduce their trade defecit the first thing they should look at is oil. It's a large country with lots of resources. There's all kinds of ways that they could make their own energy. They could create employment, stop wars and stop global warming all at the same time too.
     
    #18     Aug 29, 2008
  9. Cesko

    Cesko

    Unions are all about "higher wages and protection of workers"... but in an era of globalization, unions lose bargaining power.

    At one point in history unions were able to negotiate wages way above market value of labor. Not anymore.We are way past Industrial Revolution.
    I want to thank unions for their part in wasting American auto industry.
     
    #19     Aug 29, 2008
  10. Cesko

    Cesko

    I never said you are right or wrong. Generally speaking, I am just tired of worrying about stuff I can't change.
     
    #20     Aug 29, 2008