catscradle said:
... Personally, I don't care if the Chinese make as good a product for less money. I'll do my little bit to float our economy. We can't keep on importing forever without going bankrupt. There is enough we have to import, we should avoid it where we can.
Irish634 said:
Asian made products may have decent or good quality, but why not keep the money in the USA and support an American trying to make a living?
Yeah, what John Barton said about the money revolving around the ball. Sorry, cat and Irish, but to me, as a retiree living on a fixed income, your ideas just flat DO NOT make good economic sense. The same would apply to the outlook of a young and low-wage earner, who is also interested in learning pool, and using EFFECTIVE equipment, but unfortunately CANNOT AFFORD the American manufacturers' pricing. Several other similar and cogent examples could also (but, for brevity, will not) be presented here.
This "Buy Only American" humdrum is not only BS, but POMPOUS, SELF-AGGRANDIZING BS!!! You're lucky you're in a position to "throw away" those EXTRA dollars so many other AMERICANs would otherwise cherish just to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Hopefully, you also donate some of this overflow to worthwhile charities.
Anyway, 10-20 years from now, this whole problem will solve itself, when all of the overseas equipment will be technologically equal to USA's, and their own pricing, in tandem with the historically ever-falling dollar currency exchange rates, will have them all priced out of the US economy -- and THEN, it WILL be cheaper and PREFERABLE (quality-wise) to "Buy American."
Yes, the early warnings were Germany in the 1970's, Japan in the 1980's, South Korea in the 1990's. But now, here come Red China and India -- you will NOT BELIEVE what's going to happen to the world economy in the next 15 years!
I'm being neither anti-American nor anti-business, here. You just have to face the FACTS. Where I can, I ALSO support American cuemakers FIRST -- there's just a point where this becomes downright foolish.
Everything I own that's pool-related, at this point in time, is manufactured in the USA, except the Aramith SuperPros I use on my home pooltable. However, EVERYTHING I bought has been at near fire-sale prices -- some very interesting opportunites have presented themselves to me over the course of over 50 years of playing pool.
Right now, American technology leads the pool equipment manufacturing field in just a couple of extremely minor areas. None of these areas make any difference in the ACTUAL PLAYABILITY and QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION of the current first-rate foreign products. The Japanese and Filipinos have now matched us in almost all areas of pool technology and, shortly, they, along with the UK, Germans, French, Italians, Russians, Taiwanese and Red Chinese will all be on the forefront, with the USA struggling MIGHTILY to maintain its own spot.
These first-rate foreign products are now warp-free, buzz-free, highly damage resistent and now will last for a lifetime, just like the best of the American cues. Additionally, many of them now come with product guarantees and warranties.
I am a Patriotic American and, like cat and Irish, hate to see things going this way, but you HAVE TO FACE THE FACTS OF THE CHANGING ECONOMIES OF SCALE!!! If you really feel you have to do something about this, just remember that the "Buy American" hail and tenor is not necessarily THE thing to do -- with China's and India's growth in the next 10-20 years, these economies of scale are going to tip over the other way of their own accord and
!!! PRESTO!!!
the USA's nasty "current account deficit" problem will SOLVE ITSELF
So, in the meantime, Buy WHATEVER Makes Sense To You -- don't listen to the screaming Mimis (or, is that "me-me's"?).
