Friday, September 7, 2012

The Five Dollar Tee Shirt

"Twinsdad is consistent in his defense of the corporate world," (CrazyMarine)

I have never defended the corporate world, I defend capitalism as an economic model.
I challenge you to find one post that I actually defend the corporate world.

"he feels workers are the enemy to progress and less pay and benefits" (CM)

Workers are not the enemy, greed isn't either. You often confuse reality of the 2000's with the comfort of the 60's. The "middle class" was destroyed by itself, the need to have wages that supported the working class and yet allowed the cost of goods sold to be affordable was its demise. In your wildest dreams how do you think the 5 dollar tee shirt you bought in the 80's is still 5 bucks today? You will blame corporate greed, offshore labor, why aren't you looking in the mirror?

You won't pay 20 bucks for a tee shirt, but that's what it will cost if US labor is used, why do I say 20 bucks? How long does it take to make a tee-shirt minutes, 20 minutes? Pack it, ship it.. all manufacturing costs, what of the seller costs?

So Crazy, how much does a US made tee shirt cost to make and deliver to the store? $15, $10, $5... what about the profit the store needs to make, $2, $1.50? How does the store keep it's doors open, pay employees, bills, healthcare? Profit from goods sold, that is the only way, isn't it?

"Calculated in real 2010 dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was the highest at $10.10. The real dollar minimum wage (red squares) falls during periods Congress does not raise the minimum wage to keep up with inflation. The period 1997-2007, is the longest period during which the minimum wage was not adjusted. The minimum wage increased in three $0.70 increments--to $5.85 in July, 2007, $6.55 in July, 2008, and to $7.25 in July 2009"

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html

"He is a fool, who does not understand the balance needed to make the free market work for everyone"

OK, fill me in enlighten me to Crazy economics 101 you can see that I at least understand the difference between 1970 and 2010, you seem to making your tee shirts in 1970, don't you?

"you need not be anti-business to see that the pendulum has swung way too far to the right and is destroying the American middle class, and will continue to do so unless we take back control of our government"

The swing to the right is not destroying American the middle class, common everyday real economics is, and your belief that taking control of our government will fix it?

3 comments:

  1. A well reasoned epistle to the needy and factually pretty much on the button. However I wonder if Twins Dad and Crazy Marine are not at odds so much on economics but on ideology? I shall be interested in the Response from CM, another of my old MW friends.
    Cheers from Aussie

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  2. Crazy declined to participate here

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  3. I think Twins has fallen into the "Fallacy of Cheap Labor" argument. It is a false argument that thinks the cost of labor is the determining factor for international trade and results in a false conclusion that the USA's labor is too high to be able to compete, produce, and trade internationally.

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