RE: to bridget reilly

[Khan Klatt <khan@mediaaccess.com>]

At 3:45 PM -0700 04/11/2000, Belt, Stephen D wrote:
>And one final thing, while we're on a rant.  My brother's 94 Saturn
>is still running just fine, gets 30 mpg and has well over 120k miles.
>Its not in perfect condition today (power windows are losing their
>power and AC compressor is dead), but for the price he paid his troubles
>have been reasonable, and not uncommon for any car that's spent 7 yrs
>in the AZ desert.
>
>Plus, he values having bought American and having supported our GDP.
>You'll find many, many will buy American if given an opportunity (ie,
>there's a reasonable American choice), and don't appreciate being told
>they were idiots for making that patriotic choice.
>
>Steve.

Before we get off on a big "buy American" bandwagon here, I want to 
point out that most "Buy American" campaigns have little to do with a 
significant impact on the economy. The US makes great films and 
entertainment. Japan makes nice stereo equipment. Germany makes nice 
cars. Just because you bought a foreign made car doesn't mean diddly 
squat to the economy, and vice versa. Do you really think some guy on 
the GM plant is getting paid better or is able to afford a nicer 
house or buy better goods because you bought a GM instead of a VW?

As long as the Japanese continue to buy American entertainment, 
Levis, and SUVs, and we continue to buy their stereos, and German 
cars, it all works out for the most part. Sure it may cause jobs to 
be transferred from one border to another, but I believe in a 
darwinian economic model. Buy the products (and reward the companies) 
that are the best at what you want the product to do.  If buying 
german cars puts Frank in Detroit out of work, then maybe he should 
go to Hollywood and make a movie or design some blue jeans. The US 
economy is so strong, we should not be afraid of losing jobs across 
our borders. It just means we need to focus on something we're better 
at to create jobs at home.

In the US job market today, even if he lost his job, he could easily 
find gainful employment in another field within weeks, if not days.

On the other hand, the Puebla MX plant that VW operates has brought 
in a significant amount of revenue into that Mexican city, not to 
mention Mexico in general. That means that the Mexicans have more 
money for trade with us. The bottom line is, most often the "buy 
American" push is a bunch of nationalistic rubbish.

-Khan


Khan Klatt                                         khan@mediaaccess.com

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