Which is the American product?

[Ocotillo]

Off the current events subject somewhat.

Take a foreign company that builds a plant or plants in the U.S. and employs American workers. Profits are returned to the source country where the ownership lies.

vs.

An American company that ships their jobs overseas but the profits return here to this country as the ownership is here.

which is better for the country? Try to avoid side tracking things like tax havens and unions etc...., just which is better for the country and which is the American product?

Discuss.

[Nbadan]

An American company that ships their jobs overseas but the profits return here to this country as the ownership is here.

Blah, corporations hide their foreign profits in tax-havens like the Caymen Islands.

[clambake]

Foreign company here just because of employment vs job loss.

[boutons_]

I think having the workers in the US is effectively better, since they have (probably shitty) jobs and salaries.

Economists like to play with "competitive advantage" but that works only for pure situations and perfectly free trade, at best.

The management will always, increasingly, skim profits for themselves.

With the work done overseas, only the US mgmt wins, nobdoy else.

[RandomGuy]

Off the current events subject somewhat.

Take a foreign company that builds a plant or plants in the U.S. and employs American workers. Profits are returned to the source country where the ownership lies.

vs.

An American company that ships their jobs overseas but the profits return here to this country as the ownership is here.

which is better for the country? Try to avoid side tracking things like tax havens and unions etc...., just which is better for the country and which is the American product?

Discuss.

We had this discussion in my international economics course.

If you are earning money on capital, by all means send the job overseas and keep the extra profits.

This would include all the retirement funds that the baby boomers are counting on.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

The opposite side of the coin is that it is not uncommon for wage-earners to take a hit in such an environment.

Suck thing is that those wage earners are also the ones with kids, who just happen to be the next generation of americans. Ooops. Robbing one generation to pay another.

[Ocotillo]

I used to work for a company that made electronic typewriters (showing my age) in America (Smith Corona). One of the big things we promoted was our typewriters were made in America, actually they were assembled in America. The competition was primarily Brother, Panasonic, Sharp, etc.... and they were all made in Japan. As less typewriters were sold because computers were replacing them in most households, Brother moved their assembly plant to Tennessee and Smith Corona moved theirs to Mexico.

All of a sudden, who was the American company wasn't so clear. Brother had Japanese ownership yet they employed Americans and made their typewriters here. Smith Corona was actually owned by a British conglomerate, had their corporate offices in America but made their typewriters in Mexico.

Probably not a great example because it was a product that has gone the way of the buggy whip but as a society, I find the company who produces jobs in this country more valuable then the one who produces revenue for themselves and their shareholders.

[Ocotillo]

Sidenote, Brother is still in business making other products like sewing machines. Smith Corona tried to get into computers but were light years behind and finally folded.