Jobs Returning To America? The Economist

The Economist had a good article this week saying jobs are returning to America from Asia for several reasons.
1) The savings in labor were less than expected, China's wages have gone up 60% in five years. American wages have been stagnant for years.
2) The higher costs of energy of transporting the goods are making American goods more competitive.
3) Many products aren't as labor intensive as others, so savings in labor might not be worth it.
4) And American companies are keeping some production in America to reduce risk. Your line won't be shut down if China has strikes, or Japan has earthquakes and tsunami's.

SS109 wrote: The Economist had a good article this week saying jobs are returning to America from Asia for several reasons.
1) The savings in labor were less than expected, China's wages have gone up 60% in five years. American wages have been stagnant for years.
2) The higher costs of energy of transporting the goods are making American goods more competitive.
3) Many products aren't as labor intensive as others, so savings in labor might not be worth it.
4) And American companies are keeping some production in America to reduce risk. Your line won't be shut down if China has strikes, or Japan has earthquakes and tsunami's.

I heard the same recently but there were more reasons cited. One was intellectual property theft by the Chinese and another was time to market - much longer if manufacturing was done in Asia. Also, the lack of control over your line of products.

I am a buyer and I hate dealing with overseas suppliers, language issues, quality problems, sometimes just a different culture than can be frustrating. I try to use local suppliers that I can easily meet with. I would imagine other US corporations have my same issues.

Globalism depends on cheap and abundant oil. The writing is already on the wall for that. The question is, what comes after globalism collapses? .

The End.