Colin McEnroe Show: A Week Without 'Made In China' & Composting Cows

E-mail from Ed

In the 1980's the safety specifications that I furnished assured that no lead paint was to be used and no small parts could be removed and swallowed by a child. These and hundreds of other details were not only specified but adhered to as was shown in frequent, random inspections.

I know that the engineering job of specifying and testing toys was eliminated due to a merger and acquisition and subsequent cost-cutting effort. I also know as a grad student and later as an instructor that the Chinese students are some of the most able in the world.

The goal of capitalism is to maximize profit. Einstein said " Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler". I am afraid that we may have over-simplified the manufacturing process, one step too many.

Ed --- former Toymaker

E-mail from Eric

It would seem like the ultimate solution to the problem of Chinese labor would be to have significantly more American-made things, but this leads to another set of problems. It would require government action to force goods to be made in America, requiring things like high tariffs due to the difficulty of competing with cheap foreign labor with profits acceptable to US companies, but this which would probably lead to issues with trading partners which would probably hurt other American companies. All in all it seems that we're in so deep, that there isn't a way out. What do your guests think?

E-mail from Karl

Don't forget that "Made in USA" also applies to goods made in the Marianas Islands and other American territories where "entrepreneurs"
get to run sweatshops, thanks to Tom Delay and his good friend Jack Abramoff. The label looks like a real American label, but these workers don't get a minimum wage.