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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?

#641

Post by seanmcdirmid »

rcpt wrote: post #580
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US was going down the "let dominate IP/technology" angle for awhile, but we only accomplished it with imported labor (look at any SWE shop). China is obviously developing the talent to do the same, and they are rapidly automating manufacture work as they approach a demographic cliff. They are basically making all the right investments for the future while we try to go back to the 1950s. It is extremely frustratin…

They're doing the right thing just about everywhere. Except real estate. One wrong move and it's 90s Japan all over again.

I think Japan would have pushed through their real estate bubble if they just able to focus on automation like they were in the 80s and 90s. But the rise of cheap labor and great logistics in China ironically did those efforts in (or maybe it came too early?) and the Japanese economy fell behind for two decades.

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

#642

Post by zw123456 »

rayiner wrote: post #631
zw123456 wrote: post #629

[dupe]

> I give you this fake money in exchange for actual real things. And then you loan me money back. That is how the trade deficit works. You’re presenting this analogy as if it’s describing a situation that is good rather than a four alarm fire, and you’re calling other people stupid?

[flagged]

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

#643

Post by rayiner »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #618
rayiner wrote: post #614

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of our “value chain” is bullshit. If and when China becomes twice as big an economy as the US, much of our “edge” in marketing, finance, and services isn’t going to mean squat. E.g. how much “GDP” will evaporate overnight when American universities no longer have the cachet that comes along with being the best universities in America?

> A lot of our “value chain” is bullshit. No it isn't, productivity has to increase, that's why we constantly get rid of jobs that do not provide much value. People want more money, and the only way we get there is with more productivity (doing jobs that make more money). > If and when China becomes twice as big an economy as the US, much of our “edge” in marketing, finance, and services isn’t going to mean squat. Ch…

> No it isn't, productivity has to increase, that's why we constantly get rid of jobs that do not provide much value.

Our measures of “value” are wrong.

> I don't know what you are ranting about

My point is that a lot of what we think of as “higher value” activities are actually derivative of and downstream of our industrial supremacy. As China takes up that mantle, the higher value activities will go along with it. E.g., how long do we expect the US to do the cutting edge nuclear power and weapons research when China is the one building all the nuclear power plants?

I mean look at the path dependency that led to Silicon Valley. Why did the software revolution happen in the same place we were building the microchips?

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

#644

Post by overfeed »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #610
overfeed wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What will be America’s competitive edge in that scenario? A few months ago, I'd have said soft-power and goodwill built over decades with the rest of the western world, which roughly equals China in population size. Instead, I agree that the US is staring down a "managed decline" like the UK, but hopefully not as steep.

…what does this have to do with shoes? A “managed decline?” Brother, the problem with the UK economy is Brexit. That was put in by a plebiscite. It’s not saying much, but at every level, including in the manufacture of shoes, the government has the greatest power to create or destroy wealth.

Austerity measures predate Brexit by quite a bit as a result of deliberate choices by a conservative government. Brexit accelerated pre-existing downtrends.

Many parallels may be drawn: austerity vs DOGE in gutting government services, the deluded nativist/isolationist core of Brexit vs the tariffing the entire world, xenophobia, and most obviously a nostalgia of past-greatness that doesn't quite fit the present circumstances.

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

#645

Post by zw123456 »

imgabe wrote: post #639
zw123456 wrote: post #626

[flagged]

Do you not realize that one country learns how to make useful things like blouses, computers, phones, shoes, and the other country only knows how to make fake money? What happens when the country that makes everything else realizes they can also make up fake money just as easily as anyone else?

[flagged]

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

#646

Post by roncesvalles »

zw123456 wrote: post #626

[flagged]

Why do you keep saying "fake money"? China can use that fake money to buy real things from anyone in the world.

It's improbable that Trump has Klinefelters because people with Klinefelters tend to be infertile. It's more likely that he got forged results from a shady clinic.

Countries with excess USD buy T-bills because it beats holding it in a bank account, and converting it to CNY would be bad for exports. But some other countries also put it to more creative uses like sovereign PE funds.

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

#647

Post by zw123456 »

madmask wrote: post #632
zw123456 wrote: post #626

[flagged]

I still don’t understand what’s the goal of this shitstorm alienating allies and destroying the economy with crazy uncertainty. But fake money will not save the country from ww3. A superpower needs to have an independent manufacturing base to be taken seriously, nukes deterrent is eroding.

[flagged]

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

#648

Post by matheusmoreira »

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…

If it happens, the US will have nobody to blame other than itself. Industry is what generates wealth. The USA deindustrialized itself when it moved all of its manufacturing overseas for the sake of greater profits. It gave away its intellectual property on a silver platter so that things could be made cheaply. Other countries are only too happy to take advantage of american greed.

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

#649

Post by zw123456 »

roncesvalles wrote: post #646
zw123456 wrote: post #626

[flagged]

Why do you keep saying "fake money"? China can use that fake money to buy real things from anyone in the world. It's improbable that Trump has Klinefelters because people with Klinefelters tend to be infertile. It's more likely that he got forged results from a shady clinic. Countries with excess USD buy T-bills because it beats holding it in a bank account, and converting it to CNY would be bad for exports. But some…

[flagged]

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

#650

Post by slt2021 »

horns4lyfe wrote: post #636
marxplank wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indian Americans make the most money in America, I’m sure immigrants can be capable

“Making the most money” isn’t the same as building a society people want to live in

by all statistics, it is Americans that make the life in the USA insufferable: corrupt politicians, oligarchs, lobbyists, party leaders, and criminals (the ones that sell drugs and shoot people).

go to any county/state jail and try to find a single H-1B visa holder there... its all home grown foundational Americans, raised on McDonalds and Coke

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