What steps can be taken to make American labor more competitive on the international market?

Question

Cheap labor from socialistic countries that provide free healthcare, countries like China that keep the value of their currency low, countries with weak labor laws that allow child labor, countries with low standards of living are among many reasons American laborers can't compete with international labor. Because of these reasons, many American jobs have been exported.
The economic expansion during the last few years has seen growth in corporate earnings but not in personal incomes. This is because the labor for this expansion is being provided by foreign laborers.
What measures can be taken to make American labor more attractive?

Answer 1

Higher skills,
faster service,
lower wages

Answer 2

We simply allowed our domestic businesses the opportunity to sell out American workers to cheaper foreign sources through participation in international organizations such as NAFTA, the WTO and etc... We need to withdraw from many of these organizations and strengthen our economy again. If the US were to stop contributing to the World Bank and the IMF we could clear our national debt in ten years.

The current move to globalization is a type of socialization of the world. As we bring the poorer countries to a better economic state countries that are better off will have a decline in their economic state. Eventually as things even out all will be somewhat on the same playing field. Eventually under the current process the EU and areas such as NAFTA, ASEAN and other unions will combine under a unified government. Most likely the United Nations.

Most people do not know that the UN is planning to form a World IRS and collect taxes from every nation of the world. We have a bill in congress right now that if it passes we would not participate in the world tax because it is against our Constitution rights as Americans.

ANother scary fact about selling out of American labor. If every single job in America was exported to China. The majority of Chinese people would still not be working and poor. Think about that for a miniute. If we don't find ways for American companies to stop selling out American labor where could we end up?

Answer 3

Its about doing more in this country and not being lead into the global economy .
We should make the best and have the best in this nation . The growing hoards of exploitive governments will want the best and in so doing we will have exports to these nations .
Rather then lower our standard we should become the high end provider . Car salesmen want to work at the exotic import sports and luxury car dealership .
Sales clerks want to work for Tiffany's , Dior ,and any number of high end Clothiers .
Real estate agents want to represent clients who have million dollar homes .
Since everyone wants to sell the best then we need to make the best and the market will be their . I remember rumors of levi's selling in Russia for hundreds of dollars a pair .
We have the whole world to sell to .
Lets stop convincing Americans to work hard for less and say work hard for more . More of what the world has to pay us with like minerals, rare woods exotic spices and herbs . We need to show them how to replant and harvest properly so they do not destroy resources or abuse them . Turn mines into valley's or water reservoirs .
We need to work at making the best use of raw materials and not the most profitable .
Why not make all bed linen 350 thread count or higher for durability and softness From Supima cotton . Why not build all cars with engines that will last a million or more miles like commercial trucks that put on 250,000 miles a year .
Seems we do not produce quality for ourselves anymore . Quality products are the bench mark for the wealthy who feel naturally superior to others .
Hey all you had to do was stay in school and get the proper education and you to would have everything you want .
When you look at a pyramid you see that the base supports the entire structure .
If you where to look at money and wealth compared to that pyramid you would see an inverted pyramid with the money and wealth all at the bottom concentrated on the smallest mass . . Less then 10% of the population controls all the money and wealth .
This is unnatural and we need to change this . Our hard work can make the world a better place and in so doing will lift america higher along the way . We forget this somehow and concentrated solely on profit and not quality of work and goods .
You can only make money off money as long as you continue to reduce the size of the middle class . You must continue to expand the base in order to support the top and at some point it collapses .

Answer 4

Congress could take a course in economics...they simply seem to have no clue.
For a start, strike all these foolish laws like the minimum wage...all we're doing is ensuring that the least qualified /least educated among us will NEVER get a job.
You can't have it both ways:
if you want to keep jobs at home, you must have a competitive work force.
The market will determine the value of any form of labor...the government can't!
Unions - is there a better example of what started out as a noble cause turning into a business-crushing cancer?
Just look at our crumbling auto industry...thank you Jimmy Hoffa et al.

Answer 5

For starters, the American public needs to recognize that the cheapest is not always a good buy. (Not likely)
The competitiveness of WalMart in driving local businesses out and bulldozing prices down is a large part of what is hurting US jobs. They have leaned on manufacturing companies and TOLD them that since WalMart makes up 50% of the sales, the company must move manufacturing out of the US to make the product cheaper or lose 50% of their business to a foreign supplier.

The cost of shipping goods to this country should offset the improved compensation for workers, especially as fuel costs rise. (Maybe)

The US needs to level the bottom line by not allowing products into this country that are produced by unsafe and unhealthy work conditions. (Maybe with a Dem congress)

The US needs to recognize that SOME manufacturing needs to stay alive in the US for security reasons - particularly in areas of machinery and drug manufacture (what a joke, we can't buy from Canada that which is manufactured in Ireland, Mexico,etc.)

US labor unions are still needed. They appear to do nothing because they accomplished their goals of safety, hours, and job security. Without them, the slide backward begins. (If anything, we should be helping our unions support activity overseas.)

Answer 6

A better education system, for a start. The reason were getting passed up by tech-heavy countries like India is simply that they are more skilled. We need to free our schools from the teachers' unions and implement tough standards on math and science education through high school. We also need programs in schools to get kids more interested in science so that they will continue on to college in physics, biology, and other natural sciences.

Too often in classrooms today teachers spend so much time on diversity training and 'expressive learning' that they don't teach kids what they need to know to be most successful. Enough of the namby-pamby 'feelings education.' Let's talk science, for once.

Answer 7

Simply don't compete in the low income labor markets.
We need to use our higher education and capital investment to compete in capital-intensive industries. The US economy has been shifting from a goods to a service market and it should continue to do so.

We GAIN by letting other countries have those jobs. It means cheaper goods for us. Our laborers can use their skills in other, higher skilled, higher paying industries to produce goods that the US has the advantage in.

Answer 8

One of the biggest hurtles in this country is the cost of health care, the CEO of G.M. has said that $1500 of every new car sold is the cost of insuring its employee's and retiree's. I would assume that this holds true in many other industry's. To compete against country's that have U.H.C. puts the U.S. at a definite disadvantage. While many are against U.H.C. for various reasons the bottom line is it is costing this country many jobs, good jobs. This is one of the reasons that we have a shrinking middle class with most going into lower income jobs that offer no benefits and the poring down of the American worker.

Answer 9

Lower wages for American workers is the only intelligent answer. It will not be tolerated though. The only other alternative is tariffs on all goods entering the U.S.. This will end any exports and kill the economy but the people will love it because they don't think.

Answer 10

limit the labor unions that jack prices of manufactured goods by demanding more and more entitlements from the companies, meanwhile asian makers are kicking our arses because they dont deal with teamster gangsters. GM pays people not to work, how is this competitive against cheap labor countries? we cannot compete. when the playing field is level, then America wins. we cannot win with the cards and labor unions stacked against us.