5 Myths About the Economic 'Recovery'

Reader Comments
Back to blog

Many ofl the above comments seem to share isolationist solutions. It's easy to rationalize. The basic problem is us, however. Americans (like the rest of the world) are two-faced. We buy cheap, but want to maintain our lifestyles.
Look at Wall-Mart. It became the largest retailer right here in our own country. How? Underpricing everyone else. How? Low wages and unbelievable buying power, putting legions of would-be's out of business, especially family owned businesses. Why? As soon as a WalMart opens, dozens of local stores dissappear because everyone shops there instead, and then wonders why there are no jobs.
Look at any small town, USA. Main streets are everything but, these days, with boarded up store-fronts, empty factories and emptier savings accounts. We have become a "merchant" economy instead of producers. There's not much interest in paying a middle man these days: enter the internet marketplace. We don't even buy from stores anymore: EBAY, Amazon, et. al.
Americans talk "buy American" but buy Honda/Toyota/and now Hundai. Our middle class cost of living cannot compete globally, in manufacturing or labor intensive endeavors. Period. Everyone wants a good salary, comprehensive benefits, top health care, but we buy foreign made stuff and outsource our jobs to somewhere else. Aren't you tired of talking to Indians when you call a product support help line??
All this talk about "added value" is lost on the consumer. We sacrifice value in order to afford the product. Hell, even Mercedes makes $20,000 cars now!!
I've decided it's all FED-EX's fault! They made the world so small, anything can be made anywhere and shipped to your store/home/factory by tomorrow!!!
The local factory/mill/farm is now unnecessary. You can have it tomorrow for half the price.
Globalization might be wonderful for the up-and-coming countries of the world but it's not so great for the leaders. Think about that the next time you buy a Honda, shop at Wal Mart or order some electronics on-line.
Have a good day.

WL of CA 9:05AM June 02, 2010

Both of these go hand in hand. all of your are consumers of products and you look for good deals. My question to anyone: do you purchase products made ONLY by USA? (If you answered yes, you believe most of the marketing hype). Some component in everything purchased is probably non-USA produced.
Regardless how hard you might try, products are created from all around the world and we all do benefit from this. If Japan had not changed their quality on motorcycles and cars, none of US auto makers would have followed and created better quality and more safety rich cars. They were forced to change but did not change fast enough. They still lag.
Read basic economic books on comparative advantage. This has been going on since the very early days before America was found. Trade routes opened up to trade spices, food/vegtables, clothing, gundpowder, etc was traded from one area that had the knowledge to produce (cheaper) than other areas. The areas that purchased these goods found what products they had to compete and sell to these areas (in some case, it was gold).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
US can must use any global labor source available. If we do not use these resources, we would quickly erode to nothing since every other country and company would. US's eroison to a 3rd world country will be accelerated, not delayed. Our products probably could not compete on many fronts (cost, quality, features) by being in isolation. And as the PacRim starts to develop their large populations, US will not be the largest market for products. China and India have far more people than the US and their disposable income is still very low to US but has dramatically risen over the past 10 years.

Bill of TX 7:15PM May 03, 2010

Originally, a business could only sponsor a work visa for an individual in a field of service that we, as a Nation, lacked sufficient numbers of indigenous working citizens for. That is to say, you weren't allowed to bring in people to do a job when there were plenty of qualified American people here willing to do it. Loopholes in those laws enacted in the past 8 years now allow work visa's to anyone that wants one, even when we have plenty of qualified unemployed people here. They even gave tax credits to businesses that outsourced overseas.
What we need is to close the loopholes, then tax any companies for having non-American workers/outsourcing, making it unprofitable. Then, make a new tax credit for employing American citizens, making it more profitable. We also should have higher taxes on non-citizen workers to help off-set their practices of underbidding us by refusing benefits/pension/etc. It's gotten so bad that some companies have even stopped offering benefits or pensions since they can find plenty of non-citizens who don't need or want them (since they are planning to go home to retire after 2-5 years of working here).
These problems didn't spring up overnight nor are they the product of any one leader. They've been slowly eroding us for the past 20+ years and are only now coming to fruition. Now it's time to pay the bill. Let us hope they can get it right for a change before there's nothing left to save.

Save America of DE 11:03AM March 29, 2010

I agree with still working.
OFFSHORING OF AMERICAN JOBS NEEDS TO STOP YESTERDAY!!!!!!
The American people need to revolt and refuse to do business with companies (like IBM) which offshore jobs on a consistant basis.
Major taxes need to be levied on these companies or America is doomed.

j of OK 10:54PM March 17, 2010

How about taxing companies which outsource jobs overseas? I work in the data processing field, and an amazing number of jobs are outsourced to India, where there is a growing educated class of English-speaking professionals. This is because the salaries are 80% lower there. The U.S. companies should be made to pay a huge tax whenever they send jobs oversears, so that it doesn't pay for them to do so.
Or they bring people from India here to work. My company suddenly has an explosion of Indian consultants, yet they laid off 4% of the workforce (including technical staff) last summer. Companies should not be allowed to bring in workers from other countries when there is 10% unemployment.
Nothing against India or its people, it could be any low-wage country; I just hate 10% unemployment.

still working thank goodnes of IL 8:30PM March 05, 2010

The outsourcing of most well-paid jobs to China needs to be stopped unless there is a valid reason for doing it, such as building products in Asia as long as they are sold in Asia, and not in America.
We also need to outlaw private donations and lobbying for political campaigns, since it leads to politicians who are biased in favor of big business, instead of the interests of average Americans.
We need stronger labor laws and unionization to protect workers from ruthless corporations that keep reducing benefits, pay, and stability even when they are profitable.
Speculative financial transactions need to be taxed at higher rates than investments aimed at productive uses.
We need to bring back some of the rules and regulations that existed in the 1970s and helped to keep the financial and banking industries stable.
The Healthcare and education sectors need to restructured to bring their costs down to reasonable levels.
Americans need to be more careful when picking their political leaders, since our vote is the most powerful weapon we have for fighting the decline in our standard of living.

marccccc of PA 12:12AM March 01, 2010

First and for most. We the people need to vote out all the Congressmen out of the United States Congress. Right now, this very next election round. The biggest problem we the people have is The United States Congress. Get out and vote for
a new Congress. Until we the people get rid of the people representing our Congress we are ::::. The big problem is not really in the House nor the Senate but in the Congress. One more time. The United States of America needs a new group of Congressmen. Finial comment, Mike from KS (The Way I See IT). Mike hit the nail on the head. The electoral college is a instrument to artificially manipulate the people will.

anthony king of TX 6:19PM January 28, 2010

Congress can be bought, special deals for special interest groups can be bought, congressional members are using our tax money to swing deals for
thier own immediate and long term benefit and not for that of the country and its people. America is for sale lock, stock and barrel. We have a constitution
with a preamble that makes it very clear what our path and intent should be as a democratic nation of free people with a common interest in our collective future. We have no say, the electoral college is an instrument to artificially manipulate the peoples will, while appearing to play by the rules of a free and d democratic election. America is definitley for sale and they aren't going to split the profits with the likes of us, the real owners and caretakers. Maybe the young people in the 60's weren't so wrong in thier views after all. Maybe it is time for a revolution in this country, a revolution to take our country back from those that have made it thier own personal bank and business for thier own benefit.
Just think about it.........maybe, just maybe we're not too late..........but right on time to salvage this country for the generations of Americans to follow. Vote
your concious, vote in your best interest' vote to kick out the likes of those
who represent special interests and criminal acts by business and government
leaders alike.

mike of KS 10:05PM January 24, 2010

As the multinational corporations outsource more American jobs every week, inventive and resourceful Americans are identifying unfulfilled needs and meeting them at a profit. These can range from local or regional small manufacturing firms that make high-tech insulation, fastening systems, or modular building systems, for example, to service industries such as the standard trades, which are always in demand, and niche service industries that serve targeted customer bases. Examples include home healthcare supply, paramedic, hospital technicians of all kinds, and medical transcriptionists, which are in just one industry. There are many others, such as the burgeoning "green" industries, but you may have to look for them. If you can't find them, and your research tells you there's a need that isn't being met, why not start your own business or franchise? Yes, it isn't easy; it takes know how, motivation, and money, but if you want it, you can get it. If starting and running a business isn't your cup of tea, then find areas of interest and pursue employment in those areas. Get more training if it's needed. Make new connections with people, and above all, don't give up! Don't let the greedy corporate devils beat you. You're better and smarter than that. And don't listen to the silly talking heads on TV. They're reading a script that was written and edited to increase its shock value, not the value of its information. Refuse to be manipulated any longer and start thinking -- and doing -- for yourself.

TA of AR 1:32PM January 24, 2010