Chinese Drywall

[Atar554]

I think China's power is a bit overestimated. I still think a lot of that power is bolstered by inaction against it.

Companies want cheap labor; beyond that they really can't be bothered to give a damn. Like with the Drywall. Something that could have easily been inspected wasn't.

It's more convenient to assume everything is fine and pass it along...it was cheap right? what more do you want?

The right response imo would be to scrutinize anything coming in from China and pay off the debt. If things don't shape up by then boycott their products. I honestly think most countries would do that to the USA if our products were making them sick or killing them etc...

 

[Rey C.]

I think China's power is a bit overestimated. I still think a lot of that power is bolstered by inaction against it.

Companies want cheap labor; beyond that they really can't be bothered to give a damn. Like with the Drywall. Something that could have easily been inspected wasn't.

It's more convenient to assume everything is fine and pass it along...it was cheap right? what more do you want?

The right response imo would be to scrutinize anything coming in from China and pay off the debt. If things don't shape up by then boycott their products. I honestly think most countries would do that to the USA if our products were making them sick or killing them etc...

I don't disagree with you in principle - not at all. But the volume of goods coming into the U.S. from China makes it pretty much impossible to inspect everything. We also can't pay off the debt. We're not even at a point that we can stop borrowing to fund the deficit. Even with Ryan's rather radical plan, fuzzy math and fantasy projections on unemployment, all he's able to do is reduce the deficit, not eliminate it.

Here's something interesting I put together for a fellow on another board when we were discussing the national debt. Let's assume we could freeze the debt once we hit $15 trillion and not add to it anymore. Let's also assume we could amortize it at a static 5% interest rate (which isn't realistic). If we could run a $500 billion SURPLUS each and every year, and apply every dollar of it to the debt, it would take us 33 years to pay off the $15 trillion debt.

I would say the same thing about the U.S. national debt as I said to my girlfriend about her personal debt. Debt, in and of itself, isn't necessarily bad. But what is the debt for? Is it for shoes (sweetheart has shoes that have shoes)? Is it for electronic goodies? Or is it for a house/condo that you can live in? Is it for a car that you'll use to go to work? Is it for an apartment building that you can use to generate rental income? Same with us. IMO, a lot of the foreign aid and military assistance we give out might make the world a better place (and a lot of it likely doesn't). But if we have to borrow it from China, Japan or whomever, isn't that making us weaker in the process??? If you're building infrastructure (roads, schools, power generation, etc.), that's debt that will/should make you stronger. But we don't seem to be able to even agree (as a nation) on what is waste/unneeded and what is really necessary. There's some guys who say they're "fiscal conservatives" that insist on spending billions for a tanker airplane... that I've read the military doesn't even want! What the hell???!!! It's hard to attack the deficit, much less get to the point that we can make $500 billion payments, and actually pay off the debt, with that sort of thinking, yeah?

It's entirely possible that we're fucked. Too close to call... :dunno:

 

[bustybbwlover]

they forgot to mention the wars we were in causing drywall issues...rebuilding shit after we break it requires building materials...it's almost like, despite being willing to make anything we want for cheap and being willing to cripple our manufacturing industry by such undercutting, china doesn't give a fuck about the u.s. or it's people

 

[Atar554]

I don't disagree with you in principle - not at all. But the volume of goods coming into the U.S. from China makes it pretty much impossible to inspect everything. We also can't pay off the debt. We're not even at a point that we can stop borrowing to fund the deficit. Even with Ryan's rather radical plan, fuzzy math and fantasy projections on unemployment, all he's able to do is reduce the deficit, not eliminate it.

Here's something interesting I put together for a fellow on another board when we were discussing the national debt. Let's assume we could freeze the debt once we hit $15 trillion and not add to it anymore. Let's also assume we could amortize it at a static 5% interest rate (which isn't realistic). If we could run a $500 billion SURPLUS each and every year, and apply every dollar of it to the debt, it would take us 33 years to pay off the $15 trillion debt.

I would say the same thing about the U.S. national debt as I said to my girlfriend about her personal debt. Debt, in and of itself, isn't necessarily bad. But what is the debt for? Is it for shoes (sweetheart has shoes that have shoes)? Is it for electronic goodies? Or is it for a house/condo that you can live in? Is it for a car that you'll use to go to work? Is it for an apartment building that you can use to generate rental income? Same with us. IMO, a lot of the foreign aid and military assistance we give out might make the world a better place (and a lot of it likely doesn't). But if we have to borrow it from China, Japan or whomever, isn't that making us weaker in the process??? If you're building infrastructure (roads, schools, power generation, etc.), that's debt that will/should make you stronger. But we don't seem to be able to even agree (as a nation) on what is waste/unneeded and what is really necessary. There's some guys who say they're "fiscal conservatives" that insist on spending billions for a tanker airplane... that I've read the military doesn't even want! What the hell???!!! It's hard to attack the deficit, much less get to the point that we can make $500 billion payments, and actually pay off the debt, with that sort of thinking, yeah?

It's entirely possible that we're fucked. Too close to call... :dunno:

Interesting points. I don't know enough about economics to respond in a appropriately educated manner.

but I appreciate your post nonetheless!

 

[D-rock]

and let us not forget, american companies give the specs to the chinese companies who follow the sheet and use what they are told to use to manufacture what they were told.

That all assumes that somebody along the line doesn't try to cut corners. What I have learned from business is that almost everybody cuts corners if they think they can get away with it, and often they can. Not that the American companies that use them are innocent or anything in things like this. I'm sure when the price of the materials for them is cut they don't hesitate to look the other way and not ask questions. The American companies get cheaper material and plausible deniability, the Chinese companies cash out where they skimp on products or safety (even more than what's normal for them) and it's hard to bring any judicial action against them so everybody wins out except the consumers and most of the normal workers for each place.