The Hillman Blog ~ Connecting the Dots

Considering all the news about the "Big 3" auto industry begging for money in Washington this week, I thought this clip from Detroit was timely and a real eye-opener: http://info.detnews.com:80/video/index.cfm?id=1189

Suffice to say, life in America as we once knew it no longer exists. This video illustrates why this is true. Just as no one can work for one company for 40 years and retire safely anymore, neither can big American corporations count on maintaining their share of their respective market just because they are big and have been around for many years. Manufacturers must make a profit so they can pay dividends to their stockholders. American workers need to understand that providing jobs to workers is NOT an obligation. Paying dividends to stockholders IS an obligation. Thus, companies are forced to go where labor is cheapest. In this case it was a small rural town in Brazil.

Yes, it's a new world... and many parts of this competitive new world are going to be financially painful for millions of Americans. While other countries and their people benefit and improve their life-styles, Americans will loose.

Just as water flows to the equator, American manufacturing companies will continue to "flow" to countries with cheaper labor rates. And consequently, the American economy and our life-styles will change for the worse. We are now part of a new global market and, as such, we are forced to be competitive. NOTE TO AMERICAN WORKERS: Just being intelligent, hard working and reliable isn't enough to secure your job anymore .

NAFTA and GATT, both signed into law by [then] President Bill Clinton, greased the exit door... making it easier for American companies to move their manufacturing plants to other countries where wages are a mere fraction of what American workers are paid. Who can compete with the low-paying labor costs in China, Korea, Mexico and elsewhere? Ans: No one! This includes GM, Ford and Chrysler, as we are now seeing on television daily. At last count, economists estimate 5.5 million manufacturing jobs have left America... never to return. Well, just like "Elvis has left the building" ... it's just a matter of time before prosperity and manufacturing jobs have left the country!

NOTE: "Prosperity" is directly tied to the manufacturing of hard goods... measured and referred to today as GDP.

While I am not a doom and gloom type of person, I have been warning for years that American manufacturing unions are pricing themselves out of a job. The attached video [above] makes the point better than any amount of words I can ever speak or write.

Let me know what you think... after you watch the video.

--Hillman