Re: Vise grips tools

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:28:18 -0700, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:10:59 -0400, the infamous Joe
<see_real_one@xxxxxxx> scrawled the following:


But the bottom line here is that *American* importer/distributors are
willing to bring in and sell crap, and that *we* Americans are willing
to buy crap. If *we* were better educated as to what constitutes
quality, no one would buy the junk, the importers would require better
quality from the Chinese, and (I believe) they would easily be up to
the task of manufacturing quality goods. Prices would go up, but still
lower than with stuff made with American wages. I doubt that most of
the cost-cutting shaves more than a small amount off the price.

If the 'Merkins are willing to buy junk, what is the incentive for the
Chinese to produce good stuff?

You were fine up to here. And you're right up to a point. In the
quest of cheap, Americans, distributors, importers, and Chinese (other
than the original manufacturers the importers worked with) build and
accepted the cheaper crap each year. Overall, though, the cheap crap
from Chiwan is better now than it was 35 years ago when I I first
encountered it from Harbor Freight and Ben Franklin Dime stores.

Well, that last part is definitely true, but it could be argued that
the increase in quality is due to "market forces" demanding (OK,
preferring) something better. Incremental improvement to find out
where the consumers' tolerance level lies. Other issues could come
into play as well; I'm really not much of a student of the
marketplace, except where my own wallet is involved.

And hey, I had forgotten all about good ole Ben Franklin stores.
Hadn't seen one since the mid-70s.

The blame should probably start with the Wal Mart Empire.

Cheap crap from Japan and China were coming in LONG before Wally World
existed as a major entity, Joe. Don't blame Wally for that, though
they're now part of it.

True, but I remember when Sam Walton was still alive, and Wally crowed
about their "buy American" philosophy. Soon after his demise,
American-made stuff disappeared from their shelves, and their
suppliers were told to "meet this price" or go to hell. Couldn't
happen if domestic manufacturers had to pay decent wages. As perhaps
the biggest player in the consumer game, they set the new standard. Of
course, the majority of this country were active participants, as we
happily bought the cheaper stuff to save a few bucks, and in the long
run drove much manufacturing away from our shores. I really saw that
happening with the mass closings of the cotton mills that were the
primary economy when I moved here in 1980 - now almost extinct.

This isn't all just a blame game, though. The cycle of who is on top
and who relinquishes that spot goes on inexorably. Right now Asia is
in the ascendancy. The US can't stop that, but by being innovative, we
can at least hold our own - the rising economies in Asia will happily
spend some of their new wealth on novel inventions that haven't yet
become common commodities. In the long run, we just need to adapt.

Joe
.

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