Thread: Loss of US brands :(

It's more than whats been stated, theres also us to blame for wanting everything cheaper and cheaper and cheaper and also these same companies fighting to keep wage growth as stagnant as possible and these same companies inflating prices on their products leaving consumers no choice but to pay the prices such as with companies like Harley Davidson and General Motor's just to name two American companies.

Price is NOT set by the companies but in the (relatively) free marketplace, and companies - ALL companies - are 100% correct in charging the max. price the traffic will bear. Anything less is fiscally irresponsible and a disservice to the owners and employees.

Price and demand have an inverse relationship in an elastic (competitive) market, so a company can certainly increase sales by reducing prices. But there are cost considerations involved. Profit has to be maximized and there is generally only one volume point where that occurs, and that is where the manufacturer chooses to operate as much as possible. He may then have to adjust the price of cars to sell that volume, but he has no incentive to lower his prices until his competitor does so as well, and neither will do that until supply outpaces demand.

To be sure there are costs buried in the price that are unrelated to free market dynamics, but you get my point...

I agree with bhelms, prices are most definitely set by the market. The last time I checked no one was forced to buy a Harley Davidson. My guess is that if Harley priced their bikes at $1M per bike they probably wouldn't sell too many and the company would fold.

With that being said i do agree with Van's comment about consumers demanding cheaper and cheaper products. There is a price to pay (so to speak) for cheaper products. In order to make products cheaper companies may cut back on quality of materials, labor costs and/or customer service.

Take Home Depot for example. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people complain about the (lack of) service at Home Depot. "I can never find anyone to help me." The reason for this is Home Depot is trying to cut back on costs (employees) in order to sell you their products at a cheaper price. If people really hated the Home Depot experience that much they would go to a small hardware store, pay more for the products and get better service. If enough people did that Home Depot would be forced to increase their level of customer service and raise their prices. But they won't because people would rather pay a cheaper price and then complain about the service.

Consumers in this country are getting what they want, cheaper prices. But at a cost.

Originally Posted by Van

It's more than whats been stated, theres also us to blame for wanting everything cheaper and cheaper and cheaper and also these same companies fighting to keep wage growth as stagnant as possible and these same companies inflating prices on their products leaving consumers no choice but to pay the prices such as with companies like Harley Davidson and General Motor's just to name two American companies.

Are products really that much cheaper though? I suspect for many things, inflation adjusted, companies use the saved labor costs to increase their profit and the product is no cheaper to the consumer.

There is a yuppified section of society who think they can latte their way to utopia on the service sector alone. Let's steal their Blackberries before they achieve a state of universal consciousness.

I honestly don't believe a developed country can survive with just salesmen, software writers and Starbucks workers...but let's see.

If you think military/aerospace, we still have a strong manufacturing base. Outside of that, we have almost a totally service oriented economy. Sad but true.

Originally Posted by trey

Are products really that much cheaper though? I suspect for many things, inflation adjusted, companies use the saved labor costs to increase their profit and the product is no cheaper to the consumer.

There is a yuppified section of society who think they can latte their way to utopia on the service sector alone. Let's steal their Blackberries before they achieve a state of universal consciousness.

I honestly don't believe a developed country can survive with just salesmen, software writers and Starbucks workers...but let's see.

Most everything that's electronic that goes in your home and you can carry and that is allot if you think about it.

Originally Posted by wallypa

If you think military/aerospace, we still have a strong manufacturing base. Outside of that, we have almost a totally service oriented economy. Sad but true.

Seems to be the sad fate of many developed countries. I was just reading that after selling iron ore and coal a country like Australia's biggest money earner is educating foreign students, lol. So much for manufacturing.

Hey, if Sarah Palin brings back Pontiac I will vote for her. Let's do it! In the words of Ross Perot, have we got a deal?

Trey,

Is that your 67 Firebird in the link?

Yea lets talk more about lost brands and jobs, the San Fran bay bridge project currently under way has much of the prefab welding being done in China and as a result of the Chinese record in production quality the schedule has been pushed back repeatedly due to cracks being found in the welds and as a result this is setting back not only the schedule but also adding money onto the overall cost of the project along with several government officials having to fly out to China on our dime to bust some balls over their crappy work.