Fred Ziffel wrote:

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 20:21:17 GMT, Jonathan Ball
wrote:


Harry Krause wrote:


Jonathan Ball wrote:



Harry Krause wrote:



Jonathan Ball wrote:




Paul Schilter wrote:




Steve,
I understand your point and you're right, clothes and electronics are
very hard to buy American.

Why would it be important to do so?
Nativist/protectionist sentiment is a bad thing.


You don't think it important to have manufacturing capabilities?

No. Switzerland doesn't manufacture cars, aircraft,
ships, consumer electronics, or much of anything else.
The Swiss live enviable lives and lifestyles.



You're comparing tiny Switzerland to the United States?

Yes.


Now there's a
giggle for you. Besides, nearly half of the Swiss economy is based upon
manufacturing.

No, it isn't.


I don't know the exact percentages for manufacturing in your country,
but the Sears Craftsman Heavy-Duty heat gun that I have sitting in
front of me was manufactured in Switzerland. It is a very high
quality product.

Doubtless. The things they do manufacture generally
tend to be very high quality. I have a spinning reel
that I inherited from my grandfather over 30 years ago,
and I think it probably was 20-30 years old when I got
it from him. It's excellent.

It doesn't mean Switzerland is primarily a
manufacturing economy. They aren't. They are
primarily a service economy. Services account directly
for twice as much of their GDP as does manufacturing,
and the bulk of what is counted as "manufacturing" is
actually services.


Nothing wrong with Switzerland, but I wish it was made in the USA,
like everything used to be.

That's stupid thinking. Why do you really care where
it's made? Borders are arbitrary. For things that are
made in the U.S., do you care that they're made in your
state? For things that are made in your state, do you
care that they're made in your county?

We used to make very high quality products too.

We still do. We make those things where we have some
comparative advantage. Increasingly, the things we
make are not tangible. That doesn't make them any less
valuable.

We don't make much of anything anymore, and we are
becoming poorer because of it.

No.