4/2/2008
5:40:49 PM 

CHINA, TOO: The U.S. economy may be sputtering, but things aren't too much better in other countries. Take China—outsourcing has hit the hub of the Pearl River Delta, with soaring costs pushing the world's longtime workshop for low- cost goods to move its factories overseas. Rising raw material and energy prices, the strengthening of the yuan against the dollar and new business regulations are forcing labor-intensive factories to hunt for rock-bottom production costs elsewhere. Many are opting to move to low-cost countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, while others are seeking cheaper places to do business in China. Chinese exporters are also raising prices, threatening the supply of cheap products to the U.S. And to add to our woes, higher raw material prices and the stronger yuan 'are pushing up prices for the U.S. consumer.' The question now confronting Chinese economists is: China's labor costs are still only 5% of those of the U.S. South Korea's labor costs compared with the U.S. was at 5% in 1975, but 30 years later it was 50%. So, how long will China take to reach the 50% mark? Because of the country's size, experts think it could take 60 years. I guess some of us will never know.

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Of note here: The fact that the lowering value of the U.S. Dollar is making Chinese imports more expensive. Maybe now our fellow countryman will start buying American/Canadian manufactured products and enjoy a quality product over the imports that fall apart if the Relative Humidity in the home falls below 30%...



r

4/2/2008
6:43:36 PM 

The other side of the coin:
1. The dollar is lower which means our exported products are a better bargain and we may sell more product overseas.
2. Imported products are more expensive giving American/Canadian products a better chance to compete with the imported trash sent to this country.
3. Manufacturing is up in America and our jobless rate is still less than 5% (I think less than 4%, but that may have changed).

The new laws are resulting in more Illegals returning home because they cannot find jobs.......... of course,,, there are fewer jobs with housing market decline........

Things are slow right now, but I see it picking up the last few weeks... at least the Inspection Industry. The National Service, QuestInspect, is up 25% over last year, same First Quarter...
My personal business is down in number of Inspections but up in Income as more end users are hiring inspectors...

If someone figures it all out... let us know

I'm going to stay positive and keep working !!


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