Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
What people don't seem to realize (or at least don't mention) is that it's no longer just about the national economy. It's a world economy. Countries like China have people who do not live nearly as well as what we have come to expect for ourselves. .... Our manufacturers have found out that they can get more production for their dollar in these countries. So that's where the money is going. That's why we owe China so much. Until their economy builds up to the point where Mr Average Chang starts demanding more money, we will have trouble putting this gene back in the bottle. I don't see it getting a lot better for us anytime soon (no matter what we do). But we will survive. We may have to do without the latest upgrades, but we will eat.
Right you are GM. The genie ain't going back in the bottle. It is inevidable that standards of living will equalize across the globe. People here, (North American, Europe, Japan), need to remember that it won't entirely be poor countries rising to our standard of living -- our standard will be falling simaltaneously so as to meet theirs somewhere in the middle. In fact, working incomes US and Canada level off in the '80s and have declined significantly in the last decade -- like I said though, most haven't yet felt a drop in our living standards because we have be able to borrow -- 'till now -- to make up the decline.

Now, say you're guy whose just lost his job to somebody in China: how much do you feel you "owe" the Chinese guy? Are you glad that you can now buy for thing that you used to make for less because he now makes? Maybe so. But note that already (in a small degree) the Chinese worker has begun to experience the pressure of lower wages elsewhere. Of course the "elsewhere" isn't (yet) North American but, say, Bangladesh.

Tighten that belt buck, bro.