For John, BLUF: The whole world is involved in making things. Nothing to see here; just move along.
For those who think all the work is going to China, here is a look at the production of an Apple iPod, from data published in May of 2011.
This international source of value added in the Apple iPod starts with nation (ROW is Rest of World), then dollar value and then percent of the cost of the product.
| USA | $24.63 | 12.7% |
| China | $6.53 | 3.4% |
| Korea | $80.05 | 41.3% |
| Germany | $16.08 | 8.3% |
| France | $3.25 | 1.7% |
| Japan | $0.70 | 0.4% |
| ROW | $62.79 | 32.4% |
| Factory Gate Price | $194.04 | 100.0% |
As we can see, production of an iPod gives about 1 dollar in 8 to a worker in the US. I suspect that is either high end technical work or administrative work, not assembly work. It is a global job market out there and we need to know how to compete. One way is by ensuring we have the young men and women with the technical skills to compete for work when the cost of transportation or other factors makes our workers competitive.Source: Koen De Backer. Global Value Chains: Preliminary evidence and policy issues. Presentation to the Working Party on Globalisation Issues, 19 May 2011.
If you want an iPod, saying Buy American may not be a choice.
Regards — Cliff
In Detroit, driving a Toyota truck makes you a pariah, despite the fact that more of a Toyota Truck is built in the US than its Ford equivalent.
ReplyDeleteAll yet more reason to require "truth in labeling" on as much of our commerce as possible. My biggest peeve is the escape enjoyed by GMO food producers, but iPods, trucks, and everything else grown or fabricated here would be of benefit to us to know whence it comes.
thank you
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