Monogram Moves Molds

and the motto, bet you can't build just one.

More like - "bet you can't open just one"...I mean, how many do we actually BUILD, anyway?..

you have more done than i.

Damn capitalist pig! ;-p

They can only earn what the market is willing to pay for their skills. Would reducing their compensation increase anyone else's?

Like I said: stores come, stores go; industries come, industries go. If Cuba ever goes capitalist it will work the same way it does anywhere else.

No argument there although you won't find it at the highest levels of government. No one who had been known to have sticky fingers can survive the Darwinian process to arrive at the highest office. Power struggles along the way up and nepotism yes, but not money corruption. You won't find anyone in the top leadership circles retiring with a big fortune in some Swiss bank and a palatial estate in China.

On the contrary. Historically China was inward looking and wanted nothing from the outside world. Bad move. She was militarily weak during the 19th century Age of Imperialism and the western powers (and Japan) were able to ruin China (eg. Opium Wars, the Sack of Peking) and force her to trade under very punitive terms. During that time the big Chinese exports were tea (soon lost to Indian tea) and handicrafts, both sectors of which can hardly be perceived to be dominant or relevant in any balance of trade amounts with the west. Come to think of it what exports there are from China that is causing you so much grieve today is very much the non-essential low end stuff like toys, electronics goods and textiles. These are goods the western countries can make for themselves and can deny China entry into their markets. So the cause is not China all out to dominate the trade sphere but that you have not found an acceptable alternative to do it yourselves.

I agree. The usual mantra about enhancing shareholder and the demand for unceasing double digit growth every quarter is ridiculous. Even the most innovative business with a spectacular growth rate initially will have to mature sometime and plateau. If this business can survive, keep tens of thousands in employment and still bring in a modest profit, say 5% or close to the bank rate, that business should be rewarded in the marketplace. Instead this constant demand for unreasonable and unsustainable returns. The coprorations tried cooking the books and we had the likes of ENRON and World Com. So now the way to dress up the books is to re-engineer (aka sell of the production facilities), consolidate (eliminate whole divisions and triple the workload of the survivors) and I can't remember the buzz word used for exporting their jobs.

I can go on forever with my beefs. My (Canada) job was toast too. But the point I wanted to make is that America's problems are not generated by China. China will make anything and all you want to buy. She has no power to influence your trade policies or your consumer tastes. If you feel China is a trade and political threat all you have to do is to boycott China made goods.

(snip)

Thank you for your objective report on the real China. When you have a people that is more than 4 times the size of the US you will get the full spectrum of human nature, from the saints to the satans. I believe that if you treat with your Chinese contacts as intelligent people then that relationship will be rewarding and fruitful.

Before Mao, during Mao and after Mao the ordinary Chinese doesn't give a damn about politics or political philosophies. The only time you will get a Chinese passionate about China is when you question the legitimacy of China's territorial borders be it Taiwan or Tibet. Other than that Chinese are pretty dull people entirely focussed on family, making money and getting the kids to ace their exams.

Bill Banaszak wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net:

The Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere has moved headquarters from Tokyo to Beijing. Wait and see. History is a bitch.

Frank

CEO compensation is not "determined" by some "all mighty" market demand, it is manipulated by the evil cadre of CEO's and Board of Directors in cahoots with their fellow blue blooded Yalie friends on Wall Street. It is simply another way for the elites to suck the life from the clueless middle class by way of raping their investments and/or jobs and spinning it as "patriotic free market dynamicism."

I know every>

Didn't it used to be called Combat Models? And their premium grade associate ID?

Oxmoron1 BOF

it's the hahvad pigs, the yalies want hookers and beer.

not if, when. many so fla cuban exiles have big money to invest and know they can make huge returns. a group of collctors i know have a couple of megabucks slush fund set to buy all the old pan and knuckleheads for retoration and auction. if i had 50 g'd to toss in... heard rumours about car collectors too.

It will probably be called Red Flag or Great Wall something. But the model will more be like MacDonalds, Mickey Mouse, Hollywood or WalMart. After all most of their stuff is already made in China and exported worldwide.

Exporting Jobs (aka :Outsourcing")

Bill Shuey outsourced former engineer for D.o.D.

The latter is the group I'd expect on the first flight in. They'll be offering all those new cars to the Cubans for their 'old junk'. :)

Bill Banaszak, MFE

the bike guys will fight them for seats. people in cuba make exact, factory spec parts that are better quality than repops here. i may get that 54 el i've been jonsing for.

Scott (CaptCBoard) and Al have it right. Shop around and follow the capitalist route.

All of you who want to see things level out should realize that the "leveling" will be down for us and not up for them.

And, as Scott pointed out, he would have to charge quite a bit more for his kit. Since it is proved time and time again that most modelers don't want to pay a reasonable price for most anything, except to have the latest kit first, then the Wal-Mart movement will continue, and producing companies will seek out the lowest cost. How many of us shop Wal-Mart because of the cheap prices and ignore the little labels on most of their products that say "Made in China"? Jobs in the US at decent wages begins with individually refusing to buy the Chinese products.

"MBAs" or "evil capitalist companies" don't seek out Chinese production because it is easy, or fun to fly half way around the world for a business meeting or to look at a test shot. They do it because the buyer (you) wants the kit at a cheap price and will not buy one priced to support US production. Just review all the whining on this forum about Revell changing pricing on their U-Boat kit. Would you have paid double the new price to have it produced in the UK?

Finally, jobs change because innovation in production produces big gains in productivity, making the individual worker able to produce more, and the need for many workers less. If you want to see a good example of this look at the self-serve checkouts at your local grocery store, or the lack of any floor help in most discount stores today. Want service? Head to a Nordstrom's and look at all the sales people in the shoe department, eager to help you find that perfect footwear. Price? Much higher than K-Mart, but you pay for what you get.

I suggest that we all begin a boycott of "Made in China" products to demonstrate our support of keeping kit production in our own countries. No more Trumpeter F-105s, Tu-95s or USS Essex carriers. No Revell U-Boats or Atlantiques. Hey, while we are at it, let's continue our boycott of kits produced in the former East Bloc countries since they too are draining production from the West through lower costs. No more MPM, AModel, Special Hobby, etc. No Revell production from Poland.

Not to many takers for those proposals? Want the latest kit at a cheap price? Welcome to the world of capitalism and the pursuit of market share and profit.

(BTW, if you don't think a protest over cheap support from offshore would not work just look at Dell's decision last week to return corporate customer tech support to the US from India. Their corporate customers let it be known the service was lousy and they would be buying from a company that has support in the US. Voila!! Dell makes a fast turnaround.)

Enjoy your new kits in 2004 and don't complain if they have "Made in China/Poland/Czech/Ukraine" on the box. At least you can afford the cottage detailing set to bring it up to contest standards.

Bill