John Stossel: The Stupidity of "Buy American"

[oyarde]

which brand of beer?

Keystone , I imagine it is made here , I have no idea who owns the company , the gasoline is made here , but with imported oil , the tobacco was grown here . I pulled a 9 volt battery out of one of my metal detectors last night to replace the one in my Tens unit . It was made in Malaysia , the Tens unit is made in Korea.

 

[oyarde]

That Pink Floyd song "Pigs" is most excellent . I drive a Ford too now ... First one I have had since a Gran Torino with a 351 Cleveland .

 

[oyarde]

The Honda plant in Greensburg, Indiana is at half production this week due to parts shortage due to flooding in Thailand.

 

[specsaregood]

Keystone , I imagine it is made here , I have no idea who owns the company ,

You are in luck! an american brewed AND owned brewery.

Keystone beer is a product of the Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado

 

[oyarde]

You are in luck! an american brewed AND owned brewery.

I thought so , but one can never be sure anymore without checking , I drank Miller years ago , but is it not owned by a South African co now ?

 

[Anti Federalist]

That Pink Floyd song "Pigs" is most excellent . I drive a Ford too now ... First one I have had since a Gran Torino with a 351 Cleveland .

I had one of these:

 

[specsaregood]

I thought so , but one can never be sure anymore without checking , I drank Miller years ago , but is it not owned by a South African co now ?

Not sure about miller, but its a sad state of affairs when the biggest beer brewery in the US (anheuser-busch) gets bought up by the belgians.

 

[oyarde]

Nice , of course , gas was like $1 a gallon when I was driving it .

 

[specsaregood]

I had one of these:

I have fond memories of completely rebuilding one of these with my dad.

 

[oyarde]

Not sure about miller, but its a sad state of affairs when the biggest beer brewery in the US (anheuser-busch) gets bought up by the belgians.

I had almost forgotten about that , back when I drank Busch , it was made in ST Louis . There was a brewery there also , Griesadick Brothers or something , good beer .

 

[oyarde]

I have fond memories of completely rebuilding one of these with my dad.

I drove a 57 Chevy in High School , Dad and my brother both had 65 Mustangs , Dad had the 289 in his, he left his 57 Chevy ragtop parked in the garage , he had bought it new.

 

[oyarde]

I like the F150 I am driving now . Wish gas was still $1 .

 

[Carole]

One sign of economic ignorance is the faith that "Buy American" is the path to prosperity. My former employer, ABC News, did a week's worth of stories claiming that "buying American" would put Americans back to work.

I'm glad I don't work there anymore.

"Buy American" is a dumb idea. It would not only not create prosperity, it would cost jobs and make us all poorer. David R. Henderson, an economist at the Hoover Institution, explained why.

"Almost all economists say it's nonsense," he said. "And the reason is: We should buy things where they're cheapest. That frees up more of our resources to buy other things, and other Americans get jobs producing those things."

This is what people always forget. Anytime we can use fewer resources and less labor to produce one thing, that leaves more for other things we can't afford. If we save money buying abroad, we can make and buy other products.

The nonsense of "Buy American" can be seen if you trace out the logic.

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2011/11/02/the_stupidity_of_buy_american

My main problem with the "buy it cheapest" theory is you get what you pay for and often at the expense of slave labor. Then the price is still higher than it should be, often escalated anyway, and the materials are inferior besides. Lack of control over production seems to lead to some very bad products. I just believe there should be the option of paying more for a better product made by people receiving a reasonable salary. In a truly free market, there should be that choice.

That is very much lacking today as the bulk of our products are made overseas.

 

[oyarde]

My main problem with the "buy it cheapest" theory is you get what you pay for and often at the expense of slave labor. Then the price is still higher than it should be, often escalated anyway, and the materials are inferior besides. Lack of control over production seems to lead to some very bad products. I just believe there should be the option of paying more for a better product made by people receiving a reasonable salary. In a truly free market, there should be that choice.

That is very much lacking today as the bulk of our products are made overseas.

Yes , quality is tough to find in some items ...

 

[jmdrake]

So explain why Ron Paul is wrong on this issue.

You mean Ron Paul is a control freak like John Stossel who is trying to tell people not to buy American? Yeah I said it. John Stossel is being a control freak. It's one thing to say "get rid of tariffs and let people trade with who they want". It's another to verbally attack people for making the choice to buy American. And for the idiots that say "Buy American means subsidizing inferior products", all I have to say is "poison led paint toys from China" and "acid filled drywall from China". Our own economy sucks because it is over-regulated, over-taxed and over-subsidized. But that doesn't mean those who say "To hell with globalism and the literal garbage we are sold" are wrong. I tell you what. Maybe people should "Watch Russian (as in Russia Today) so that John Stossel will be out of a job".

 

[jmdrake]

My main problem with the "buy it cheapest" theory is you get what you pay for and often at the expense of slave labor. Then the price is still higher than it should be, often escalated anyway, and the materials are inferior besides. Lack of control over production seems to lead to some very bad products. I just believe there should be the option of paying more for a better product made by people receiving a reasonable salary. In a truly free market, there should be that choice.

That is very much lacking today as the bulk of our products are made overseas.

+rep

 

[specsaregood]

//

 

[oyarde]

Some of the items I have trouble finding quality( DURABILITY) in without using a catalog would be shoes that are not boots , belts ....

 

[oyarde]

Yeah, the one we rebuilt was a 64 1/2. We rebuilt it for my older brothers birthday. Thing had a puny little straight-6 engine. It musta taken 15seconds to get up to 60mph. LOL. Perfect for a 16yr old. I learned to drive on it. Unfortunately I didn't get it as a handme down as he sold it to afford to go to college. Still the memories of working on the engine, sanding, bondo'ing, painting and tracking down little ornaments and such with my dad will last forever.

My brothers was a standard with a six , we painted it back the original color , orange

 

[Carole]

I believe there is a huge elephant in this room. The fact is that through the globalists' plans like Agenda 21 and its children such as The Wildlands Project, the full intent of th PTB is that no more industry ever be located in America. When the goal is to reduce the population, eliminate roads and dams, do away with private property, etc., the entire government and UN are purposely eliminating all production in America.

"...Dave Foreman, co-founder of Earth First!, who summarized the concept: “It is not enough to preserve the roadless, undeveloped country remaining. We must re-create wilderness in large regions: move out the cars and civilized people, dismantle the roads and dams, reclaim the plowed land and clearcuts, reintroduce extirpated species.”

"Dave Foreman’s philosophy led him to propose: “Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental.” Echoing Marx’ theory of dialectical materialism, a March, 1994 Bureau of Land Management Internal Working Document for “ecosystem management” stated federal bureaucrats should “consider human beings as a biological resource”, to be managed like cattle or trees."

So all this talk of production in the US is a moot point. Forces are aligned to prevent any production here through regulations, laws, EO's, Activism by the environmentalists and politicians. They are using taxpayer monies to give to environmental groups in order that they can sue any company that attempts to build a building or produce a product.

Just where does that leave us? Depopulated and overrun by animals and what people remain will be hoarded into their "people hubs" and stuffed into their "pack'em and stack'em " buildings to survive. No more ski resorts and golf courses. Very few roads and bridges. No vehicles, maybe those converted golf carts if we are lucky. Etc. At least fifty percent of the land unavailable to the people to step foot on.

So, really, moot question.