Buy American... REALLY?

 Most all my life, I have heard BUY AMERICAN in order for us to have a healthy economy and grow...  while that may be a good thing for the USA, it is not a good thing for the average American.

WHY?

Because, the American Worker get paid more than any other worker in the world.  Not only do we have higher wages, but the American Workers have demanded TONS OF BENEFITS as well.

Therefore, if you were to buy American, you would be spending more money on these items than if they were made in China, India, or Indonesia.

By having other countries manufacture at a lower cost, we, HERE IN THE USA, are able to have a lower cost of living.

Being an American Worker all my life, I wanted the highest salary or wage that I could possible get...  Yes...  TRUE... but, my higher wage caused my employer to charge the consumer more for the item than they needed to if my wages were lower.

This is the problem that AMERICAN COMPANIES face everyday.  Do I pay higher wages and charge higher prices or do I import these items from another country where wages are lower???

Back in the 1990s, I worked for a company that moved part of their operations to Mexico because the wage was very low.  At the time this move took place, they could pay $1/day to Mexican workers and they were content.

In the next couple of years, these Mexican workers wanted a $1/hour...  then they went to $2/hour, then they demanded $5/hour and the company moved their operations out of Mexico because the wages got too high.  They could not pass those expenses to the company that had hired them to manufacture.

Whether we want to believe it or not...  prices to the consumer cause the company to make decisions that are unpopular with the public.  Most of these companies are publicly traded companies and it is the SHAREHOLDERS or STOCKHOLDERS that dictate to the company CEOs the dividends that they want to receive each year.

In order to pay those dividends, the company either reduces expenses or raise prices...

1. If you piss the workers off, very little will happen...
2. If you piss the consumer off, they may switch products...
3. If you piss the SHAREHOLDER off, then they will sell their shares and the value of the company will decline and the CEO will be terminated...