$ 7.25 does seem a tad low

[littleshark]

Re: $ 7.25 does seem a tad low

What you are witnessing with the Levi's is the corruption and fraud that manufacturers are having to deal with in Asia, especially China. It's not possible to inspect every pair of jeans in every container-load that arrives at Port of Long Beach. So the Chinese suppliers short the shipments, and play other games to increase their own margins. It's rampant, and almost everyone who has a business that deals with the Chinese will have a story like this to tell (including me). Running a "third shift" to make knock-off copies of designer clothes is common and these clothes are shipped to retail stores in countries where the franchise holders are equally corrupt and won't hesitate to buy the knockoffs and put them on their racks (Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, etc).

Japan, and later South Korea, figured out that they had to improve the quality of their products or they couldn't sell into western markets. Today's Toyota or Hyundai automobile is of far greater quality than what those companies were exporting in the 1960s or '70s. China and the rest of SE Asia has to go through the same learning and growth curves. The question is whether China does it in one-third the time it took Japan, or if the corrupt behavior which starts at the top of their political food chain is so deeply engrained in their entire society that they take decades to grow out of it...

Its amazing to me what Hyundai has done in this country. In 1989, my first car was a used Hyundai Excel. It was great for an 18yr old, but quite unreliable and poorly made. I can't beleive that this company now has what is, I think, about to become the highest selling car in America, the Genesis, and a good friend of mine's father who is a stodgy old guy who only drove an S class Mercedez his whole life just bought his first Equus. We were cracking up about it. And the best warantee in the industry. Amazing what a high quality product at a reasonable price can do.

[shiny!]

Re: $ 7.25 does seem a tad low

Its amazing to me what Hyundai has done in this country. In 1989, my first car was a used Hyundai Excel. It was great for an 18yr old, but quite unreliable and poorly made. I can't beleive that this company now has what is, I think, about to become the highest selling car in America, the Genesis, and a good friend of mine's father who is a stodgy old guy who only drove an S class Mercedez his whole life just bought his first Equus. We were cracking up about it. And the best warantee in the industry. Amazing what a high quality product at a reasonable price can do.

Comparing standard features and warranties, Hyundai gives way more bang for the buck than Ford, Honda or Toyota, IMO.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: $ 7.25 does seem a tad low

What you are witnessing with the Levi's is the corruption and fraud that manufacturers are having to deal with in Asia, especially China. It's not possible to inspect every pair of jeans in every container-load that arrives at Port of Long Beach. So the Chinese suppliers short the shipments, and play other games to increase their own margins. It's rampant, and almost everyone who has a business that deals with the Chinese will have a story like this to tell (including me). Running a "third shift" to make knock-off copies of designer clothes is common and these clothes are shipped to retail stores in countries where the franchise holders are equally corrupt and won't hesitate to buy the knockoffs and put them on their racks (Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, etc).

I remember reading an article some time ago about "third shift" products. A product in the U.S. called the Chumby was affected by sticks of RAM that were manufactured on a third shift. I don't know how you manage to keep your sanity dealing with this kind of stuff. It was exactly this kind of nonsense that forced my grandfather to retire early from what I understand was a fairly lucrative job.

Japan, and later South Korea, figured out that they had to improve the quality of their products or they couldn't sell into western markets. Today's Toyota or Hyundai automobile is of far greater quality than what those companies were exporting in the 1960s or '70s. China and the rest of SE Asia has to go through the same learning and growth curves. The question is whether China does it in one-third the time it took Japan, or if the corrupt behavior which starts at the top of their political food chain is so deeply engrained in their entire society that they take decades to grow out of it...

It seems to me that China is going to take decades, if not forever, to grow out the malaise they're currently in. I'm not old enough to have witnessed Japan's first attempts at exporting goods to the U.S. but I am fairly familiar with the growth of Taiwan and Korea. What I see with goods made in China that I didn't see with goods from Taiwan and Korea is a certain indifference to quality. With the Taiwanese and Korean goods, they may have been at times crudely-made but it was obvious that it was because they were technologically backwards. The low-tech goods Taiwan and Korea made lacked the fineness of the high-end stuff but were still relatively durable. I got the impression that even if the products were not great or even lousy, at least Taiwan and Korea were trying to make something decent. I don't get that impression with a lot of products from China.

[c1ue]

Re: $ 7.25 does seem a tad low

Today, there are plenty of people willing to work for $7.75/hour. Why is the government even involved?

There are plenty of people who'd be ok with their children working for $1/hr.

We don't allow that because it isn't a net benefit to society in any way, though it might be a benefit for the parents of said kids for a short time. (Free child care! Vocational work experience! Learning responsibility! etc etc)

As I've said before - I don't think a minimum wage is something which is a requirement. However, in our present FIRE parasitized economy, I do see a minimum wage as being a small clawback for the labor class.

Take the banksters out of FIRE, and I'd be ok with not having a minimum wage.