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How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

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Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#371

Post by rayiner »

ibeff wrote: post #321
rayiner wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bringing “manufacturing back to the US” is a fool’s errand. The future of manufacturing is automation, not jobs. That’s probably correct. But the current trajectory means that China will have the robot-operated factories, not the US. What do you anticipate the US will do to obtain goods from those Chinese factories? Especially when AI stands poised to obsolete a lot of the white collar jobs where the US still retai…

> China will have the robot-operated factories, not the US. What do you anticipate the US will do to obtain goods from those Chinese factories? Why not let the market take care of it? It's cheaper to buy things from China then make them yourself. When that changes, production will naturally move to the next best place. I don't see the issue.

Because no economic theory proposes that the efficient outcome is one where the US retains its sovereignty and independence. Nations seek to create bubbles of local maximums, not in maximizing the economic efficiency of the world as a whole. A world where american kids have to learn chinese and fight to immigrate to China may well be an economically efficient outcome from the point of view of the markets. But American policy should fight very hard against that outcome.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#372

Post by throwaway48476 »

rayiner wrote: post #42

Americans need to get over their view of “Asia” as being about making shoes. When I was working in engineering in the early aughts, we mocked the Chinese as being able only to copy American technology. Today, China is competitive with or ahead of America in key technology areas, including nuclear power, AI, EVs, and batteries. We need to anticipate a future where China is equal to America on a per capita basis, but f…

The average Brit is now poorer than the average Pole. Dominating finance hasn't worked out well for the citizens of the UK.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#373

Post by markus_zhang »

rayiner wrote: post #42

Americans need to get over their view of “Asia” as being about making shoes. When I was working in engineering in the early aughts, we mocked the Chinese as being able only to copy American technology. Today, China is competitive with or ahead of America in key technology areas, including nuclear power, AI, EVs, and batteries. We need to anticipate a future where China is equal to America on a per capita basis, but f…

> What will be America’s competitive edge in that scenario?

I'm sure that the US still has many edges over China in high-end technology. I remember I read a research article back in 2012/2013 which listed all fields that China were lagging behind, including pharma, computer chips and some other stuffs. It's a fairly long list. I'm sure China managed to catch up in some of the fields but I doubt all of them.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#374

Post by ben_w »

matt-p wrote: post #256
wahern wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fishing is less profitable for the whole UK than Warhammer. There are 3x as many fishermen in the UK than employees of Games Workshop, and much more again if you count the number of related fishery jobs. At the end of the day, politicians and voters alike respond more to employment than nominal monetary figures. A broader employment base is generally better for social and political stability than explicit wealth re…

Sorry, but I don't think this is the reason. There were vastly more people in financial services calling for us NOT to have brexit than fishermen asking for it, even in number of people. I honestly don't think this was a numbers of people affected vs "% of GDP" affected issue. Not at all. What good did it do for us? At the time everyone was running around rubbishing and laughing at the "outrageous" claims of 10% GDP…

> What good did it do for us? At the time everyone was running around rubbishing and laughing at the "outrageous" claims of 10% GDP loss, and where are we now?

Impossible to say, as it was swamped by the pandemic. My guess as to the fatalities due to Brexit is also untestable as a result.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#375

Post by markus_zhang »

bloppe wrote: post #364
markus_zhang wrote: post #356

I hope the elites of US are not thinking about moving shoe-making back to the US because it doesn't make sense. I'm sure (I hope, actually) that some policymakers, or some researchers, have done some conclusive researches about -- give X years into the future, and let's see we do not want to disrupt the current social-economic reality too much (no revolution, no major wealth re-distribution, no world wars, etc.), whi…

The opinions of "elites" simply don't matter. There's only one guy who matters when it comes to policy now. And he's not known for his thinking abilities

If the elites don't disagree with him I'd say they probably "in average" agree with him. Trump is just one man.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#376

Post by codexb »

markus_zhang wrote: post #356

I hope the elites of US are not thinking about moving shoe-making back to the US because it doesn't make sense. I'm sure (I hope, actually) that some policymakers, or some researchers, have done some conclusive researches about -- give X years into the future, and let's see we do not want to disrupt the current social-economic reality too much (no revolution, no major wealth re-distribution, no world wars, etc.), whi…

It doesn't make financial sense when the tax policy of the US is to tax domestic companies that produce things but not foreign companies that produce things and benefit from selling them in the US market.

We don't need to do research to decide what makes "sense". The market will figure out what makes financial sense themselves. The only thing we need to know is what the tax rate for foreign producers should be so that domestic companies are not the only ones shouldering the federal tax burden.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#377

Post by conductr »

hx8 wrote: post #83

> But if we bump the cost of freight, insurance, and customs from $5 to, say, $28, then they wholesale the shoes to Footlocker for about $75. And if Footlocker purchases Nike shoes for $75, then they retail them for $150. Everyone needs to fixed percentages to avoid losses. I don't understand this paragraph. If Footlocker was okay with $50 profit/shoe, why do they need to claim $75 profit/shoe in their costs per shoe…

Margin as a % is a key metric, more so than margin as a $. It's not always sensical but it's dominant in the business/investment community.

For example, you may announce to public markets that your profit has increased $10M despite margins eroding from 50% to 30%. You will likely be punished in terms of stock price. This is because you sold a lot more or trimmed some expenses (which is short-term good) but you are also now more risky because if sales decrease you will more easily run into trouble breaking even/covering operating costs (which is long-term bad).

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#378

Post by throwaway48476 »

tweetle_beetle wrote: post #327
dubiousdabbler wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this because she gives so much to charity?

Quoting Wikipedia's source, Forbes estimated her donations were $120 million to date in 2012. However, she co-founded her own charity in 2005, of which she is the president, and I suspect most of it has been donated in that direction. Personally, I'm always dubious of the rich and famous genuinely finding unmet cases for charitable organisations. Especially when they've made a fortune outsourcing being morally dubiou…

During feudalism the rich donated a far larger percent of their assets. The trend has been that the rich donate a smaller percent since then

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#379

Post by blitzar »

matt-p wrote: post #240
logifail wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The UK stepped on its own rake because it was obsessed with tiny, already vanished industries like fishing This isn't just a UK issue: "Fishing is a relatively minor economic activity within the EU. It contributes generally less than 1 per cent to gross national product."[0] and if you look beyond fishing, agricultural policy as a whole is - not sure how to put this politely - not easy to understand: "The CAP is of…

For another "not just the UK" example france has managed to persuade the EU not to buy british weapons out of the extra defence fund unless the UK give France some of it's fishing rights. Can you imagine being Poland and not getting the best anti-tank weaponry, or the best missiles because you want the french to have more fishing rights? Completely barking mad. https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-rejects-eu-plan-tie-d…

The UK is no longer in the EU.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#380

Post by boznz »

missedthecue wrote: post #338
bboygravity wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that that future of a big powerful China doesn't exist. Their birth-rate is 1. Game-over.

China will probably be the only country that solves this.

..Any country can solve it, just incentivise families. Simple things like ensuring young people have access to affordable housing and daycare. If I was at the start of my career ladder in a major urban area now, having a family would be close to the bottom of my priority list. Its not rocket science.
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