People, when free to choose, will always gravitate to the lowest price and/or the highest value goods. This is why Walmart and Amazon rule the retail world. Fact is that labor costs and regulation compliance in the USA are simply too expensive to be competitive with the labor-intensive production capability of emerging economies in other…
People, when free to choose, will always gravitate to the lowest price and/or the highest value goods. This is why Walmart and Amazon rule the retail world. Fact is that labor costs and regulation compliance in the USA are simply too expensive to be competitive with the labor-intensive production capability of emerging economies in other parts of the world. Tariffs will cause inflation in consumer prices, just as they have in Europe where everyday goods are much more expensive than in the USA. Voters threw the Dems out because of inflation. They will do the same to Republicans, if Trump proceeds on this course. And no, people living paycheck to paycheck (much of Trump's base) will not be patient when told "but it will be better someday."
It's also why there needs to be competition. In the past, Bernie Sanders has railed against the fact that there are 16+ brands of deodorant. If there was only one brand, it would be expensive, low-quality and very hard to get.
Indeed. One of the reasons the USA is so innovative is because it has to be to compete. Protectionism discourages innovation. Our free-trade policies have forced upon us the best economy in the world while protectionist nations have lagged. But, what the heck...
Unions have all but destroyed competition. Ridiculous pay and benefit expectations among Americans further pushes prices higher. Remember the dock workers strike? When people started hearing of the absurd wages and benefits they were making and demanding more, they quickly realized they did not have the support of the general public. People want absurd salaries and then turn around and demand the cheapest goods. I would argue these salaries in turn actually increase prices as competition to hire workers makes other companies raise salaries which in turn make them have to raise prices to earn more money.
People, when free to choose, will always gravitate to the lowest price and/or the highest value goods. This is why Walmart and Amazon rule the retail world. Fact is that labor costs and regulation compliance in the USA are simply too expensive to be competitive with the labor-intensive production capability of emerging economies in other parts of the world. Tariffs will cause inflation in consumer prices, just as they have in Europe where everyday goods are much more expensive than in the USA. Voters threw the Dems out because of inflation. They will do the same to Republicans, if Trump proceeds on this course. And no, people living paycheck to paycheck (much of Trump's base) will not be patient when told "but it will be better someday."
It's also why there needs to be competition. In the past, Bernie Sanders has railed against the fact that there are 16+ brands of deodorant. If there was only one brand, it would be expensive, low-quality and very hard to get.
Indeed. One of the reasons the USA is so innovative is because it has to be to compete. Protectionism discourages innovation. Our free-trade policies have forced upon us the best economy in the world while protectionist nations have lagged. But, what the heck...
Unions have all but destroyed competition. Ridiculous pay and benefit expectations among Americans further pushes prices higher. Remember the dock workers strike? When people started hearing of the absurd wages and benefits they were making and demanding more, they quickly realized they did not have the support of the general public. People want absurd salaries and then turn around and demand the cheapest goods. I would argue these salaries in turn actually increase prices as competition to hire workers makes other companies raise salaries which in turn make them have to raise prices to earn more money.
Yep. High domestic wages and inexpensive domestically produced products are mutually exclusive.