How to Beat China

My Dog Petey loves those Chicken Jerky’s I buy in the doggy treat section of the grocery store.

One day, I heard on the news that these are not good for dogs if they are made in China. I went shopping yesterday. Turns out that all those Chicken Jerky packages are made in China.

I would guess that almost every thing we pick up in any store is most likely made in China. It makes me wonder how much crap you pick up in China that says, “Made in U.S.A.”

Probably not many items at all.

In fact, when I walk through Wal*Mart I note the cheapest garbage they carry is their own nameless brand. “Mainstay” is what it’s called. I used to work for Wal*Mart and I can assure you that anything that has the name brand “Mainstay” most likely will be broken before you actually get it into your home.

But, then again, almost everything else is also made in China. We wonder why. 

Mitt Romney on a number of occasions in these GOP Debates has mentioned the currency manipulation of China and why this effects our manufacturing market. But naturally, 99% of Americans don’t see the link. I wouldn’t expect them to. After all, Mitt is tied to a 1minute response and the explanation of the Free Trade Agreement is far more demanding than one minute.

Let’s take a moment to examine the free trade agreement shall we?

The value of free trade was first observed and documented by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations, in 1776. He wrote,

“It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy.. . . If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage.” 

So, in short, this means that purchasing items from China costs us less than making these items ourselves so we purchase it from them. Needless to say, it doesn’t make much sense for China to purchase American since they can manufacture just about anything for less cost.  Truth is, the reason their items cost less for us to purchase is because they manipulate their currency to be devalued below our standards which in turn make their items cheaper.