Made in America

Don't get me started on cable companies. My bill was going to go from around $130/month to over $200 for the very same service. I had to call customer retention and argue for many a minute until I got a supervisor who very quickly and politely gave me the same service for $15 more per month. Getting that supervisor was more difficult than in the past. Persevere folks, persevere.

What we now have are telecommunication cartels that carve up territory and block any and all competition. What I pay $145/month for I can get in France for about $45/month because they allow competition. Who would have thought? Aren't we told that competition and "free markets" are what drive this economy?

Please.

All the best,
Nonoise

Tonywinsc, yes I realize this is quite complex. I agree with your assessments and can provide some examples from my own experience to support your comments. Also, I think your comments about management and the lack of true leadership are spot on. I would simply add that the perception of consumer demand is what drives the market. In addition, it would be foolish to ignore the contribution of investor demands on publicly traded companies.

For me, made in America is not as important as performance, quality, and price. My spending reflects this.

Nonoise, the cable industry is not a free market in any way and the subsequent high prices are the result. This is a classic illustration. There is no competition as most locations have only one cable service provider option. The cable companies try to argue that DSL, satellite broadband, and satellite dish are competitors. I would consider them substitute services, not competitors. Economists have a name for this, but it escapes me at the moment. Practically, it is a government approved monopoly.

Using cable service was a bad example on my part. I was trying to make a point about how market drives pricing, but cable, like health care is a service not a product and they do not face global competition like the manufacturing industry.
From a consumer standpoint global competition is a good thing. I am all for it. The point I was making is that the system is unbalanced or unfair at times. What I have learned over the years in industry is that if you or the company performs poorly, then eventually you and/or the company goes under; but the converse is not always true. If you perform well and the company performs well; you may still loose your job. Success is no guarantee.
Here is how global competition has been good to us as consumers. The government's CPI has some funky calculations so I reference things to the price of a gallon of gasoline. (Price based on my region over the years.) I will use a television set since they have been in production for several decades. I recall that my dad bought our first 25" color TV in late 1968 for $400. That was a SOTA TV and a lot of money. $400 back then bought about 1800 gallons of gasoline. Today, consider a 60" 3D HDTV as SOTA. It costs the equivalent of about 788 gallons of gasoline. Quite the reduction in cost over the years thanks to technology, productivity improvements and competition. How about USA made high end gear? I will use my favorite preamps for an example. The ARC SP-15 top of the line preamp cost the equivalent of about 4500 gallons of gasoline in the early nineties. Today, their top end Ref 5 costs about 3800 gallons of gasoline. So maybe global competition has been good for the hifi market as well. Maybe, if I compared the 40th Anniversary edition to the SP-15 it would not look so favorable, but I'm not sure that is apples to apples.
Now, look at the service industry which apparently has no global competition. I can recall my cable bill was $20/month in 1989. That is because at that time the bill increased 10% per year and I made up my mind that when it hit $20/month I would cancel. (I would dance in streets today for a bill like that.) So that was equivalent to about 16 gallons of gasoline per month. I still have basic cable and if I back out the internet service and just look at cable, it costs me 27 gallons of gasoline today. That is an 11 gallons of gasoline per month increase! For the same basic service! How about healthcare? I was paying $22/month for healthcare in 1990 when my oldest son was born. btw- It was an HMO and his birth cost me $10 out of pocket. I miss those days. So in 1990, my healthcare insurance cost was about 18 gallons of gasoline per month. Sure, I have changed companies over the years, but I have been with the same company now for quite a while and have still seen big year over year increases. So much so that today my healthcare insurance costs me a whopping 100 gallons of gasoline per month! That is a 455% increase in gallons of gasoline over 22 years! Yikes!

Amen. It's pay for play on a national scale. Politicians are for sale and gladly prostitute themselves for the right price. Local competition is a thing of the past. Monopolies kill off competition and jobs.

What we, as a nation need, is another Teddy Roosevelt (the Trust Buster) to tackle those who would subvert this economy to their own ends. It's the same old story as before: history is repeating itself.

It kills me to think that someone as evil and pernicious as Murdoch will end up owing the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times if the FCC allows barriers to cross ownership in media markets to end. That will be the one of the final nails in the coffin, so to speak. Those who control the "news" controls opinion.

Countries have borders and boundaries. They should be honored and protected. "Global Economy" is nothing more than a catch phrase used to fool and justify those who don't care to take a closer look. Trade should always be encouraged, shops built overseas, if needed, for foreign markets if local shops can't meet foreign demand, and treaties made to allow it.

To undermine and dismantle one's nation and economy and destroy the infrastructure of its citizens so an oligarchy can enrich itself on a global scale is nothing short of insanity. That process subverts the very concept of a nation. Just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. Examples abound.

It's a pathology in a shiny wrapping with a beautiful bow atop. These actors are nothing more than sociopaths with high level addictions. It's time for that 12 step program to kick in.

All the best,
Nonoise

An interesting topic, and one that was on my mind when I assembled my audio system. One of my requirements was "Plenty of Made in America" and "Absolutely no Made in China". I ended up with the following:

Tyler Acoustics speakers (made in usa)
Decware Zen Torii amp (made in usa)
Blue Jeans cables (made in usa)
Slim Devices transporter (made in usa)
Arcam CD player (made in england)
North Star m192 mk2 DAC (made in italy)

So I think I have achieved my goal, mostly made in usa, with a few made in western europe, and zero made in china.