Detroit Vs Japan

I didn't mean Cuba specifically. I just meant that Detroit sells it's
outdated stuff to foreign markets. And in all fairness it won't be
"Detroit" doing it. They sell their old crap to machinery liquidators, and
THEN that stuff ends up in Mexico, India, China, etc. It's one of the
reasons that up until recently at least, foreign made widgets were of lesser
quality. They were made with worn out yesterdays technology.

Right now China and India are HUGE importers of used manufacturing
equipment. I'm sure there are a slew of others as well.


"Stephen Cowell" > wrote in message
m...
> > "Stephen Cowell" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > >
> > > And Bill... perhaps you'll tell us how the trucks from the
> > > US are getting to Cuba... that one's got me wondering...
> > > __
> >
> >
> "Tom Greening" > wrote in message
> . ..
> > Because Detroit sells outdated equipment, including tooling, to foreign
> > countries.
>
> Detroit sells tooling to Cuba? Isn't that illegal?
> __
> Steve
> .
>
>

Actually, Japan is a pretty great place. Modern, friendly, and the girls
are especially cute. Just so long as you don't mind being groped on a train
now and again (by women curious about westerners and their, uhm,
"attributes"), it's a nice place.


"Stephen Cowell" > wrote in message
...
>
> "L.W. (ßill) Hughes III" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I think you should move to Japan.
>
> So what? I think you should move to
> Iran... you'd like the mullahs, they think
> a lot like you do.
> __
> Steve
> .
>
>
>

I'd appreciate it if you would move to Japan.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Tom Greening wrote:
>
> Actually, Japan is a pretty great place. Modern, friendly, and the girls
> are especially cute. Just so long as you don't mind being groped on a train
> now and again (by women curious about westerners and their, uhm,
> "attributes"), it's a nice place.

http://merrimack.nara.gov:80/cgi-bin...31/jfksnew.txt
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Stephen Cowell wrote:
>
> LHO was never in Cuba.
> __
> Steve
> .

Of course Cuba doesn't have any Japanese cars, they're smarter than
that!
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Stephen Cowell wrote:
>
> Pretty amazing that there's no cars from the '60s, or '70s
> in those pictures... in fact, I challenge you to show me a
> picture of an American car made after Castro took power
> ending up in Cuba... I don't think you can! As far as
> *many* ending up there, complete hogwash.... you pulled
> that one from where the sun don't shine. Perhaps Cuba
> would be a good place for you... they have no Japanese
> cars, since there's an embargo and Japan is one of our
> best allies.
> __
> Steve
> .

You didn't say they don't exist - you said they are not as prevalent as
people think. I think they are.

Dave Milne, Scotland
'91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

"Matt Macchiarolo" > wrote in message
...
> Where in my post did I say "sweat shops don't exist?" As the standard of
> living in these countries grows, you'll see less of them over time.
>
> "Dave Milne" > wrote in message
> . uk...
> > I've a friend in Thailand who gets paid about 1.50 per hour - she has an
> > MSc
> > as well.. In the villages, 9 year old children work after school..
> > That's
> > why we can buy silk ties for 2 quid there that get sold for 20 quid
here..
> > Sweat shops very much do exist, and you can bet that the imigrants that
> > make
> > it here are sending the money back home to support their relatives.
> >
> > Dave Milne, Scotland
> > '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ
> > "Matt Macchiarolo" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> "Sweat shop" factories really aren't as prevalent as most of us in the
> > West
> >> think; in the case of automotive manufacturers, most of these Asian
> >> plants
> >> are as state-of-the-art as any in the West and are staffed by workers
who
> >> want those jobs because they pay better than anything else around.
> >
> >
>
>

I bet Kathy Lee Gifford is happy Americans have short memories.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Dave Milne wrote:
>
> You didn't say they don't exist - you said they are not as prevalent as
> people think. I think they are.
>
> Dave Milne, Scotland
> '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

LOL! "Cody wants a pony!" (whip cracking)

"L.W. ("ßill") Hughes III" > wrote in message
...
> I bet Kathy Lee Gifford is happy Americans have short memories.
> God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
> http://www.billhughes.com/
>
> Dave Milne wrote:
>>
>> You didn't say they don't exist - you said they are not as prevalent as
>> people think. I think they are.
>>
>> Dave Milne, Scotland
>> '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

Matt Macchiarolo wrote:

> But since labor costs are still so low in many countries, it's no wonder
> why businesses (and not just American businesses) are shifting production
> to those countries.

And you view this as a good thing? It started with union jobs in the 70's
and early 80's. Those union guys just made too much money. Then, the
non-union jobs started going overseas in the 1980's. In the 1990's the
floodgates were opened up to moving the manufacturing jobs into Mexico
(remember that big sucking sound Ross Pero referred to?). Then, in the
2000's, the white collar computer jobs moved to India, and the flood of
Mexicans came in to replace construction workers in this country. I got
news for you: Your job is next. Be afraid...be very afraid... What's scary
is that the Republicans and talk radio are trying to convince us this is a
good thing. Even scarier is that some people believe it! Don't get me
wrong, I'm very much conservative. However, this is something that I cannot
agree with.

> As far as the Japanese building a better car, I think among major auto
> manufacturers the quality gap is so small now that it's a crap shoot in
> trying to determine who builds a "better" car.

This is very true today. You almost have to take it on a model by model
basis.

> In the 70's and 80's, it
> was easier to measure since compared to Japanese imports, American cars of
> that time were overpriced, gas-guzzling, often-repaired, poorly-built
> piles of crap.

Yeah, American cars weren't as good in the 70's as they were in the 60's or
today. However, Toyotas and Hondas weren't especially good either. I still
see 1970s era American cars running around. I don't mean collector cars,
either. I mean daily drivers. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a
1978 Honda or Toyota of any model. Don't you think that if they were built
so well that there would still be some running around on the roads
somewhere? I think a lot of it was hype. Some of it was true, but a lot of
it was hype...

> But the industry adjusted and stepped up their game to
> match the Japanese. Nowadays, the quality gap is more public perception
> than a quantified, measurable phenomenon.

True.

> And on that note, it's interesting to see that many parts on my Ford
> products and TJ are assembled in Mexico...my next-door neighbor, a German
> with a Mexican wife, works for an international OEM auto supplier, with
> plants in Mexico, France, Germany, UK, and USA (he currently works as
> production manager at the US plant here in Michigan). When the TJ when it
> was introduced, his company made the anti-sway bar assemblies at their
> Mexico plant, which is where he was stationed at the time. The company
> supplies parts (mainly insulation and acoustic panels) for every major
> carmarker in the world.

This is why it's less important to worry about whether the vehicle is GM,
Ford, or Chrysler(ahem...DaimlerChrysler) and consider whether it was US
built at all. I'm more of a Big 3 fan than anything, but if they want to
build everything in Mexico, then give me a Toyota made in nearby
Georgetown, KY...


--

Registered Linux user #378193

"Ruel Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Matt Macchiarolo wrote:
>
>> But since labor costs are still so low in many countries, it's no wonder
>> why businesses (and not just American businesses) are shifting production
>> to those countries.
>
> And you view this as a good thing?

No, but it is happening, and eventually there will be a paradigm shift in
education in the US to adjust to it. In the late 19th century, while the US
was shifting from a agricultural society to an industrial society, farming
become more automated and many farmhands with a sixth-grade education found
themselves out of work. The early 20th centrury saw a national priority to
increase education for the labor force to make them more employable, hence
high school attendance was made universal. Now we are on the cusp of another
educational prioriy...a high school education won't be enough to compete
globally, and two years minimum of post high school study will be
necessarily universal in the next twenty years or so.

Then, in the
> 2000's, the white collar computer jobs moved to India, and the flood of
> Mexicans came in to replace construction workers in this country. I got
> news for you: Your job is next.

I'm self-employed, but that makes little difference to a lot of
self-employed people, depending on what they do...

Be afraid...be very afraid... What's scary
> is that the Republicans and talk radio are trying to convince us this is a
> good thing. Even scarier is that some people believe it! Don't get me
> wrong, I'm very much conservative. However, this is something that I
> cannot
> agree with.

Big business loves this trend. Like all socioecononomic shifts, there will
be some that will be left behind. You want to stay employed...the emphasis
will be to stay employable.

>
> Yeah, American cars weren't as good in the 70's as they were in the 60's
> or
> today. However, Toyotas and Hondas weren't especially good either. I still
> see 1970s era American cars running around. I don't mean collector cars,
> either. I mean daily drivers. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a
> 1978 Honda or Toyota of any model. Don't you think that if they were built
> so well that there would still be some running around on the roads
> somewhere? I think a lot of it was hype. Some of it was true, but a lot of
> it was hype...

I see your point...I think a lot of it was in the gas crunch of the 70's
people wanted smaller, fuel efficient cars, and the domestics really didn't
have much to offer, while almost every Japanese car was small and fuel
efficient, quality notwithstanding. That really opened the floodgates and
the quality improvement perception came later as they built up market share
and the domestics' quality stagnated through the early 80's.