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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?

#451
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author’s point is that the lower cost of goods coming from Asia results in increased demand, which then generates more jobs in the post-manufacturing part of the chain.

I see your point. I suppose a counterpoint is now shoes won't be so disposable and professions for cobblers and the like will be in higher demand.

We buy and waste a lot of stuff. Fast fashion is pretty insane. Look in the closets of your friends who are constantly clothes shopping and it's a ton of shit that never gets worn and eventually "donated" (5% makes it to thrift store shelves, but most of it gets burned or sent to Africa .. and then burned).

Reversing the transmission of western consumerism is not an easy change. Few people are willing to pay an extra $50 for a more durable good that lasts. Long term thinking isn't easy for most, and many can't even afford to think that way.

But the tariffs are really a tax, a federal sales tax on the consumer. Biden tried to put in "unrealized gains tax" (which is really Federal property tax). So both presidents are trying to use executive power and double speak to get their people to support new taxes that are ultimately horrible for every American.

Trump Derangement Syndrome runs both directions.

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

#452

I worked in the retail; it is the shittiest job I ever had. I was given an abnormal schedule: two days closing, one day opening, one mid shift (and I should work either Saturday or Sunday). The churn is really high: people leave even if they find a better yet shitty job. Which jobs do you want to create in US? Retail jobs or manufacturing jobs?

Given the manufacturing is currently being done by people making much less than US minimum wage, I’d have to say retail!

People forget why manufacturing was moved out of the US. Manufacturing jobs sucked major ass. Then they sucked less ass, when unions started gaining power. Then the companies saw their employees had prosperity, said “fuck you”, and left.

We’ve crippled unions to such an absurd degree that the reality is that, if manufacturing came back, the quality of life for average Americans would go down significantly. It’s not 1955 - you’re out of your goddamn mind if you think a factory worker can maintain the quality of life now, let alone afford a suburban home on one income like in the past.

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

#453
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…

Maybe it will come full circle and the US will commit IP theft to catch up to the dominant Chinese companies.

All for it.

We should be doing that right now.

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

#454
post #89

Trying to summarize the summary for myself From a $100 shoe that sells for $76: - $24 goes overseas (22 cost, 2 freight) - $8 goes to the US gov't (3 import, 2 Nike tax, 3 Footlocker tax) - $33 goes to US employees or businesses (5 Nike marketing, 11 Nike expenses, 17 Footlocker expenses) - $5 goes to Nike (11% return) - $6 goes to Footlocker (8% return) But now with 100% tariffs, it's a $100 shoe that sells for $100…

Is there a reason, be-it special buildings, tools, skills that shoes can not be made in the US to avoid the tariffs? If Nike shoes exceed the cost of domestically produced shoes, isn’t that… like… kind of the point?

Every country has optimized their own economy so it's incredibly cheap for us to import shoes, or it was. Now it is not, so sure we could try to make some cheap shoes here. But now we have to make cheap shoes, grow cheap citrus veggies, make cheap computer chips, make cheap needles etc etc.

How much capacity do you think the US has to manufacture these things? and what about the supplies?

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

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> .Any country can solve it, just incentivise families. In the US, parenting time is up 20-fold, from a few hours per week to 24/7 adulting. Companion to that is that free-range land has shrunk from many sq/mi to a few sq/yds. Car culture and trespassing culture has eliminated the irreplaceable environments where adult-free, peer time nurtured mental health and abilities. As near as I can tell, parenting and childhoo…

I agree it's broken, just in the other direction. Just stick an ipad in front of the kid and ignore it for hours

From before written history until a few generations ago, kids spent hours/day in adult-free, peer time making mistakes in everything from social interaction to physically risky play - and learning from those mistakes.

Today kids live entirely in adult curated, adult populated boxes. I'm not inclined to blame ipads for that.

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

#456
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…

Maybe it will come full circle and the US will commit IP theft to catch up to the dominant Chinese companies.

Then they’d just be back to where they started in the early 19th century, stealing Britain’s IP to become an industrial power.

https://www.history.com/articles/industrial-revolution-spies...

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

#457
post #426
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…

China could not only be ‘equal’ but ‘better’ than the USA - we should get used to the idea. China has an average IQ of 104 out of 1.4 billion people, while the USA has an IQ of 97. In purely statistical terms, this means that the USA has around 700,000 people with an IQ >= 140. China has 11,480,000 people with this IQ. This human capital will make the difference.

due to immigration, USA draws talent from global population of 8.2 billion, so the top limit of people with IQ>140 that can live in USA should be drawn from 8.2 billion, not 340 mln

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

#458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. Well maybe, if trumpism continues. Point is: The best and brightest go where they think their life will be most fulfilling. Up to last year that was California for tech and New York for culture. Even the Chinese think china is oppressive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_ping#:~:text=Tang%20ping%...

It's not the best and the brightest who are lying flat, but those who lost the rat race. All things considered, most Chinese would prefer to stay in China, and if you're rich there you've got it made.

By all accounts, you do not get rich in china by work. I work with the most talented Chinese scientists and none of them expects to be wealthy at home, the best hope to be what would be middle class in the US.

Unless they manage to get to the US they return, because they would not be safe from harassment anywhere else.

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

#459
Now they’ll just have to make shoes for $11 or new balance will have to come back to North American manufacturing and make shoes for $40 wholesale

Shipping , customs , duty , port fees , transportation , packaging that can survive across the ocean should all be things that make the product unrealistic to make outside North America, not to mention environmental tariffs that should be applied to products made in Asia.

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

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USA is also below replacement levels.

Not with immigration.

Immigration is a double edge sword. Sure, it brings highly educated people on the top end, but also less educated at the bottom curve.

and on balance it changes demographics dramatically, that also shapes US policy in the future. It will be harder for USA to continue to be bloody warmongering machine with Military industrial complex dictating the policy and bombing countries and blowing up civilians around the world.

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