From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Wed Jun 11 2003 - 16:51:44 MDT
Mitch wrote:
> Rafal opined:
> <<The "new" foreign workers buy American grain, movies, machines,
> American debt, weapons. A huge part of American export is dependent
> on the demand created by increased affluence abroad, due in part to
> globalization. Conversely, even poor (especially poor) Americans
> benefit from cheap but high quality imported goods. You don't need to
> have a high-paying job to shop at K-mart, and without K-mart you
> would be so much poorer, even with the same relative amount of cash
> on hand.
>
> Rafal, foreign workers who make 1/10th the amount ceded to American
> workers, may do well for themselves in their own country, but they
> cannot afford to buy American cars, American steel, Anerican-made
> chips, American financial services. It costs too damn much and they
> would be insane to improverish themselves. Very few Indians, for
> example, can afford to buy an American Pontiac Sunfire (should they
> desire it) because it would be the price of 7 years income for them.
### Well, as they say, tough. If, as you seem to imply, Americans can't or
don't want to compete, they don't deserve to be paid.
------------------------------
>
> Until then, degrading the American middle classes ability to purchase
> goods from around the world, by exporting their jobs is not a wise
> move. Without a decent short-term, we will not in any fashion have a
> long term.
### The US middle class has a decent life already. Sacrificing long-term
growth for the sake of minor short-term improvements is a loss. A Crown Vic
instead of a Taurus today means the LongLife(TM) pill could come just a few
months too late for many.
Rafal
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