Why won’t Canada try to do it’s own manufacturing instead of promoting a Communist autocracy? Yes the goods are cheap but the treatment of the workers is indecent :( and probably economically and financially Canadian manufacturing would be considered unreasonable.
What about the decent morality argument? Just food for thought. ✌🏼 ❤️ 🇨🇦 🙏🏼
Annette, at one time we did do pretty much all our manufacturing here. And it really a) worked; b) didn't work well.
I am of an age, as used to be said (I'm 74) and I remember when, oh, washing machines, for example, used to be made in .. Hamilton, if I recall. That meant that they were made domestically and there were good manufacturing jobs doing it. It also meant that foreign (often American) washing machines were not available in Canada because we imposed tariffs that made them much too expensive. Oh, and some types of products simply weren't available in Canada as they weren't produced here and our merchants, etc. didn't import them.
Canada was (and still is) a very small market by comparison to other markets so only a limited number of models were made here and typically the models had old technology as (remember, small market) models wouldn't be changed nearly as often as in the US. That meant that we had more expensive washing machines (lower production runs, less efficiency, etc., etc.) of an out of date model.
When the tariffs were lowered and washing machines from the US were able to be sold here we got a much better supply of a much better quality. Of course, that meant that the Hamilton washing machine factory closed down. But we had cheaper washers and a much greater selection.
A good trade off? Each person must make their own decision on that question.
It really is complicated and for every upside you can find a down side. Whether the value of the upsides outweigh the value of the downsides (or the reverse) will differ in each situation evaluated. As I said, it's complicated.
It's complicated but it's also pretty clear: we are overall better off with better products for less but also we have not developed Canada's economy and workforce to help truly average worker bees.
Annette is right (by implication) that we could almost entirely remove tarrifs with a more just country like Bangladesh or Vietnam or Ghana and raise them on slave labour from China. Ken is right that Canadian workers must be better served than told they are now free to do something else, multiple times. We have a crisis of training and housing supply and a backwards residential construction industry - we could simply start there.
The whole point of trading with other countries is that some countries have a comparative advantage over other. Just as one obvious example, Canada doesn't grow oranges at all well and other countries do so we are best to have trade for those oranges. Similarly, we do potash quite well as compared to many countries. Therefore, potash for oranges is a logical trade. [Very simplistic example, no?]
Then the politicians (worldwide) step in and things get much more complicated as everyone of them try to get a better deal than the next guy. The thing that our own politicians must do is to ensure that as near as possible we preserve well paying jobs and benefits in Canada while encouraging trade that allows relatively cheaper prices here. A very tricky process and one that needs to take into account both the smarts and the idiocy of others.
As you note, Edouard, we have real problems in our housing and education/training, not to mention the general economy which, on a per capita basis has been in recession for some time. Further, we have a government that has not been particularly responsive to problems many of which are of their own making.
To say that we could start with housing is - to me, and to you - a rational choice but, given the complexities, perhaps Carney et al will say "If we deal with this 'other lever' first, it will provide a way to open up housing." I really don't know; I know it is complex and I further know that the government has been screwing up for ten years so, quite honestly, I am not particularly optimistic that they will get the job don.
Why won’t Canada try to do it’s own manufacturing instead of promoting a Communist autocracy? Yes the goods are cheap but the treatment of the workers is indecent :( and probably economically and financially Canadian manufacturing would be considered unreasonable.
What about the decent morality argument? Just food for thought. ✌🏼 ❤️ 🇨🇦 🙏🏼
Annette, at one time we did do pretty much all our manufacturing here. And it really a) worked; b) didn't work well.
I am of an age, as used to be said (I'm 74) and I remember when, oh, washing machines, for example, used to be made in .. Hamilton, if I recall. That meant that they were made domestically and there were good manufacturing jobs doing it. It also meant that foreign (often American) washing machines were not available in Canada because we imposed tariffs that made them much too expensive. Oh, and some types of products simply weren't available in Canada as they weren't produced here and our merchants, etc. didn't import them.
Canada was (and still is) a very small market by comparison to other markets so only a limited number of models were made here and typically the models had old technology as (remember, small market) models wouldn't be changed nearly as often as in the US. That meant that we had more expensive washing machines (lower production runs, less efficiency, etc., etc.) of an out of date model.
When the tariffs were lowered and washing machines from the US were able to be sold here we got a much better supply of a much better quality. Of course, that meant that the Hamilton washing machine factory closed down. But we had cheaper washers and a much greater selection.
A good trade off? Each person must make their own decision on that question.
It really is complicated and for every upside you can find a down side. Whether the value of the upsides outweigh the value of the downsides (or the reverse) will differ in each situation evaluated. As I said, it's complicated.
Ugh :( We’re an air of prestige too at dollar store prices….thanks for commenting Ken much obliged. ✌🏼
It's complicated but it's also pretty clear: we are overall better off with better products for less but also we have not developed Canada's economy and workforce to help truly average worker bees.
Annette is right (by implication) that we could almost entirely remove tarrifs with a more just country like Bangladesh or Vietnam or Ghana and raise them on slave labour from China. Ken is right that Canadian workers must be better served than told they are now free to do something else, multiple times. We have a crisis of training and housing supply and a backwards residential construction industry - we could simply start there.
The whole point of trading with other countries is that some countries have a comparative advantage over other. Just as one obvious example, Canada doesn't grow oranges at all well and other countries do so we are best to have trade for those oranges. Similarly, we do potash quite well as compared to many countries. Therefore, potash for oranges is a logical trade. [Very simplistic example, no?]
Then the politicians (worldwide) step in and things get much more complicated as everyone of them try to get a better deal than the next guy. The thing that our own politicians must do is to ensure that as near as possible we preserve well paying jobs and benefits in Canada while encouraging trade that allows relatively cheaper prices here. A very tricky process and one that needs to take into account both the smarts and the idiocy of others.
As you note, Edouard, we have real problems in our housing and education/training, not to mention the general economy which, on a per capita basis has been in recession for some time. Further, we have a government that has not been particularly responsive to problems many of which are of their own making.
To say that we could start with housing is - to me, and to you - a rational choice but, given the complexities, perhaps Carney et al will say "If we deal with this 'other lever' first, it will provide a way to open up housing." I really don't know; I know it is complex and I further know that the government has been screwing up for ten years so, quite honestly, I am not particularly optimistic that they will get the job don.