Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a net good effect in terms of resiliency, in the long term... Well, this is the problem, right. Resiliency only pays off when there's a crisis, otherwise it's a net cost. So if you're outcompeted by the other non-resilient companies before that crisis happens, it doesn't help. I feel like societal resiliency needs to be rewarded (in many contexts, utilities are obvious but also food supply, etc) but I don't k…
> Resiliency only pays off when there's a crisis resiliency mostly pays off when there's a crisis. You can reduce latency in systems by sourcing things closer to use, but having a fallback farther away. It's a tradeoff though. If I have two suppliers, the odds that I have 'a supplier issue' are doubled. But the odds that I have no supply at all is lower.
Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
151–160 of 275 posts
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
And I honestly do want a $400 sweater if we have a prospering manufacturing business. How many people stuff their house with clothes that they wear only once? How many people buy toys that their kids play only a few times? How many people hav a whole closet of shoes? Why do we have twice as large of closet room compared with people living in the 50s? Why do people just have to buy clothes every quarter, every month,…
Do you remember the early 90s and late 80s when clothes were much more expensive than in the late 90s on? That was really tough for a lot of us who didn’t come from rich families. I could probably deal with it now, but you aren’t considering a lot of people who would be absolutely ruined by a return to the old way.
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#153We really need to get our factories out of China. This is a country that hid the coronavirus case for 2-3 weeks, let 5 million Wuhan residents leave the city, doctored numbers, then most recently had government press try to spin the disease as if it didn’t come out of Wuhan, but rather somewhere other countries!! And they are actively Forcing uigher population into crippled factories in eastern China to replace migra…
I really don't see why should China try to hide an outbreak. China will be, and is hurt the most without a doubt. China isn't mother nature, you can't just assume its government is somewhat almighty, knows everything before its happened and blame it for not doing anything. No government can be that.
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#154We really need to get our factories out of China. This is a country that hid the coronavirus case for 2-3 weeks, let 5 million Wuhan residents leave the city, doctored numbers, then most recently had government press try to spin the disease as if it didn’t come out of Wuhan, but rather somewhere other countries!! And they are actively Forcing uigher population into crippled factories in eastern China to replace migra…
It isn’t China’s fault that this disease happened to emerge in the country. And judging by what we see from other countries, their handling of it seems to be at least as good as mosts’, not even taking into account that countries like US had two months extra to prepare. So maybe chill on the nationalism (and the exclamation marks)
China absolutely could have prevented this but there wasn't a desire to do so because CCP officials like to eat bats sometimes too
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the 1940s sweaters were american made, did not cost $400, and the median american had more disposable income than now. The people who benefitted from outsourcing were those buying shares, not sweaters.
In 1949, a nylon sweater cost about $7.95 ( https://mclib.info/reference/local-history-genealogy/histori... ), which in 2020 dollars would be about $86.41. So not $400 and about in line with what an average sweater today would cost. However, the median American did not have more disposable income back then compared to now. In 2020, the median American has about $16763 in disposable income, whereas in 1959 (the furthe…
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
And I honestly do want a $400 sweater if we have a prospering manufacturing business. How many people stuff their house with clothes that they wear only once? How many people buy toys that their kids play only a few times? How many people hav a whole closet of shoes? Why do we have twice as large of closet room compared with people living in the 50s? Why do people just have to buy clothes every quarter, every month,…
The problem is the data doesn't support your position being even a minority position behaviorally - probably even for the things you own. The results are in: The overwhelming majority of consumers buy the cheapest things/services that fit their need, and they do not price in externality discounts on their own accord.
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
The supply chains that you rail against have successfully delivered the greatest levels of prosperity to the largest number of humans in all of history. They were created not by some mysterious force, but by individuals making rational choices about how they want to allocate their time, their energy and their resources. The "suicidal deindustrialization" you refer to is the result of people making informed choices th…
> They didn't want a $400 locally knitted sweater, made from neighborhood sheep. They wanted a $40 sweater that was made as efficiently as possible, and $360 of change. Except that the difference was never that large and never had to be that local. What happened was that they didn't want a $42 sweater made on the same continent over a $40 sweater made on the other side of the world, because it gave back $2 in change.…
American-made jeans are anywhere from $160-300. I can also buy some jeans at Levi's for $60-100.
It is not as small as you depict and also not as large as you are responding to, but it is still a very real gap.
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
The supply chains that you rail against have successfully delivered the greatest levels of prosperity to the largest number of humans in all of history. They were created not by some mysterious force, but by individuals making rational choices about how they want to allocate their time, their energy and their resources. The "suicidal deindustrialization" you refer to is the result of people making informed choices th…
Honestly you're coming off far more extremist than OP is. OP's just arguing that in times of strife, we could potentially suffer because of a lack of self-reliance. He has a valid point, and should another even worse and longer lasting zoonotic(or any kind) disease spur up again, do you honestly think it's a good idea to make no steps towards developing emergency self-reliance systems in case of catastrophe? What abo…
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
The supply chains that you rail against have successfully delivered the greatest levels of prosperity to the largest number of humans in all of history. They were created not by some mysterious force, but by individuals making rational choices about how they want to allocate their time, their energy and their resources. The "suicidal deindustrialization" you refer to is the result of people making informed choices th…
And I honestly do want a $400 sweater if we have a prospering manufacturing business. How many people stuff their house with clothes that they wear only once? How many people buy toys that their kids play only a few times? How many people hav a whole closet of shoes? Why do we have twice as large of closet room compared with people living in the 50s? Why do people just have to buy clothes every quarter, every month,…
Really? In what kind of bubble are you living?
Re: Coronavirus has disrupted supply chains for nearly 75% of U.S. companies
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
This was all verifiable in real time and is consistent with the behavior of authoritarian regimes. You want to pretend China isn't interning Uigurs as well? Hell, that doctor whistleblower who ended up dead from the virus was officially "admonished" and forced to publicaly apologize for "spreading rumors". The world isn't the Disney movie land that most Americans grew up. Plenty of organized evil exists throughout th…
Trying to claim that the United States has some moral high ground above China is laughable. China has certainly committed plenty of human rights violations, but so have plenty of Western nations.