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Post by aztec70 on Jul 2, 2010 8:06:20 GMT -8
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Post by AlwaysAnAztec on Jul 2, 2010 8:48:54 GMT -8
Is American business ever going to think long term? It won't happen until the management of the company is compensated for long term success vice what happened the next quarter.
The right likes to blame the unions for the failure of the economy. While they do share some of the blame it is primarily on the shoulders of the corporate management who are in it for themselves only.
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Post by AztecWilliam on Jul 2, 2010 10:41:37 GMT -8
Is American business ever going to think long term? It won't happen until the management of the company is compensated for long term success vice what happened the next quarter. The right likes to blame the unions for the failure of the economy. While they do share some of the blame it is primarily on the shoulders of the corporate management who are in it for themselves only. I don't understand what you mean by ". . .in it for themselves only." Are you suggesting that German managers are somehow more civic minded than are their U.S. counterparts? That Germans really don't care how much money they make? Or are the Germans simply smarter than Americans? Please clarify. I am only vaguely aware of German labor/management relations, but I suspect that German unions have not always to tried to get everything could with no thought of the long-term consequences. I believe it's correct that in both Japan and Germany labor and management have had a relationship that was more collaborative than an adversarial. Unfortunately, the latter has been the case (until recently) in the U.S. There is another factor I will mention, one which certainly has worked to the benefit of all Western Europe. I refer to the fact that the European nations, since WWII, have spent nickles and dimes on their defense while we have spent dollars. And by dollars I refer to the expenditures we have incurred insuring that Europe would be defended against the Soviet Block, expenditures that were over and above what we needed for the defense of the U.S. homeland. Every aircraft carrier not built, every army division not created, every new weapons system not developed by Germany represented money that could be spent in other ways. There is no doubt that we would be better off with more heavy manufacturing jobs in the U.S. But you are not being realistic if you do not recognize that excessive labor costs and restrictive work rules had a lot to do with the loss of those jobs. I don't think there have been too many labor strikes in Europe for quite a while. There are strikes, but those strikes are by government workers who are unwilling to give up their cushy benefits paid for by workers in the private sector. Just what do you think could or should have been done to prevent Apple Computer (to use one example) from having their products built in Asia? Seriously, what remedy do you suggest? AzWm |
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Post by AlwaysAnAztec on Jul 2, 2010 14:14:25 GMT -8
AzWm - Didn't you read the article? The German workers make MORE than U.S. workers. Not less.
German labor relations are different than U.S. labor relations. Management takes a much more paternalistic view of their employees and the employees have a much greater connection to the company. There is also much more trust and collaboration between the two. In the U.S. the traditional relationship has been one of distrust and confrontation.
And no, management in Germany doesn't look to enrich themselves at the expense of the company, shareholders, and employees. Corporate executives make significantly less than executives in the U.S.
There are problems in Germany just like the U.S. but in Germany, you hear the word 'family' used quite often to describe the relationship between management, worker, and company.
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Post by ptsdthor on Jul 2, 2010 14:48:34 GMT -8
Could it be that Germany subsidizes the export of their cars, etc., by removing the VAT tax when their products are shipped out of the country and imposes a tariff on imports via the VAT? I suspect our best and brightest go into law and become drains on the US economy and Germany's best and brightest become trade negotiators versus a bunch of clueless US government pogues. How else can you explain the myriad of trade laws where the US gets the short end of the stick? www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54076"A U.S. car that sells for $23,000 in the U.S. includes profit and covers various tax obligations of the producer, as well as pension costs for workers. When that car arrives in Germany, a 16 percent VAT will be added on to the $23,000 price, meaning that the car will be sold in Germany for $26,680." "When the German car is imported to the U.S., Germany rebates the 16 percent VAT to the manufacturer, allowing the export value of the car to be $19,827.59. Moreover, when the German car is imported to the U.S. no U.S. tax comparable to the VAT is assessed, so the car is allowed to enter the U.S. market at a price under $20,000." Do that over a half a million times a year, year after year and you have one country's car industry in trouble and another country's car industry as some sort of "capitalist" model!  But wait - some bright one will say - we need to install our VAT to defend against that the German VAT...... Oh brother. |
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