[Un]Made in the USA

Money is makes the world go round. It is the driving force that encourages things to get made and distributed, it is used as a power mechanism and it plays a big part in "comand and control". "Unamde in America: the true cost of a global assembly line" exposes much of what American- made companies do to become internationally based. The essay discusses other concerns dealing with the manufacturing buisness, but the idea of these proud to be American buisnesses not giving job opprotunites to Americans is upseting.

Economic globalization combines human innovation and the integration of economies around the world. The term sometimes also refers to the people of labor and the knowledge of technology across international borders. Globalization allows world trade and financial markets to become more integrated. The spread of knowledge (and technology) acts as an information exchange, this often is overlooked as a part of globalization. For instance, foreign investment brings not only an expansion of capital stock, but also technical innovations. More generally, it brings knowledge about production methods, management techniques and markets that are available at very low cost. This represents a highly valuable resource for the developing countries.

Imbar pointed out that the essay states the fear of the possiblity of one segement of the assembly line or chain to “grab hold of a few strands and start yanking”. Imbar then goes on to say, "basically don’t yank the chain, everything is suppose to run smooth, on time, and consistent. Michelle comments that, "if one thing goes wrong somewhere within the process, the entire production is halted, and this could happen anywhere on the globe", this is simular to the don't pull the chain idea.

Societies across the globe have progressively established closer contacts over time, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Jet fast airplanes, cheap telephone service, email, computers, and so on, have all made the world more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations manufacture products in many countries and sell to consumers around the world. Money, along with raw materials move swiftly across the borders. As a result, laws, economies, and social movements are all forming at an international level.

For a funny and easy way to understand the history of globalization view this comic strip. It mentions the fact that America often creates ways to make goods for American companies duty free for little expense. If all this debate over outsourcing has you feeling a bit unpatriotic, speak up! There are a few websites were one can post thoughts and even contact the companies that are highly involved in the buisness of outsourcing. Here are some U.S. companies that either send American jobs overseas, or choose to employ cheap oversea labor rather than American workers: Verizon, Toys R Us, Time Warner, Friut of the Loom, Kodak, Coca Cola, and Bank of America. Barry Lynn asked a good question, "how many of us actually twist around to check what is printed on the labels of our underwear?"