Where did it all go wrong ?

As the US Economy reaches it's lowest point. One can't help by wonder why this great country, with so much wealth and expertize should get it so wrong. I am not just talking about the last 5 years, or even the length of the Bush Administration, which it must be said, is the most disasterous precidency in the history of mankind.

However beyond the Bush years there is a deeper legacy. I guess working in the electronics sector for so long, we could all see it coming. Even in the mid-ninties, after visiting a contract manufacturer who had decided to move their facilities into China, we all used to ask, how many more ?

Well the question is alot more. I read somewhere that if the Big 3 Auto companies go under, the percentage of jobs in the manufacturing sector will drop below 10% of the entire work-force in it's history. In 1985, manufacturing employed over 30% of the workforce.

I can only think greed played the biggest part in all this. Major shareholders realizing that by upping sticks and setting up in one of these low-cost labour countries, would ensure they could employ three times the workforce for about a third of the price. Great if your a shareholder, not if you are one of the tens of thousands of employees. Obviously this process was accelerated further in the unregulated Bush years of "more you earm, less you pay" taxing policies. Which effectively said ship jobs oversees and you will make more money. Huge manufacturing companies leapt at the chance, and with GPS being made in Taiwan, X Boxes, Playstations, Stereo's, TV's, iPod's, etc, etc all being made in China, it's all starting to make sense.

Sadly though for every "apple" ipod made in China, you can guarantee that someone there is making a 'lemon' version. By putting all our technology and production there, we have also allowed the market to become saturated with counterfeiters and low quality merchandice. We have kidded ourselves into accepting that a 'computer' has a lifespan of 5/7 years. As consumers, we have pushed down prices and also compromised on quality. If it doesn't work, throw it away and buy a new one. When I was a kid if it broke, then I didn't get another one. Not only did it ensure I took a little more conscious of it's well-being, but also ensured I understood that this was valuable and needed to be taken care of.

In short, I am not sure where we go from here. Can we stop the tax breaks and incentives to move out of the US and Europe and into China or India. Can we break this cycle of the wealthy moving our jobs around the world in the search of even greater profits ?

If everyone said tomorrow that they would not purchase another DVD player, computer or ipod that had been manufactured in China, do you think the likes of Sony, Dell or Apple would continue to allow their products to be made there ? If we want to be a strong market player, then we have to manufacture like one and choose quality over quantity.