posted on
October 19, 2009 at 03:47PM
Why not America? One word: Unions.
Seriously, unions are unfortunately not as beneficial as they once were, and add substantially to the cost of products and services (see also: General Motors & UAW). Americans have made it incredibly clear that they are far less interested in country of origin than they are in the numbers that come after the dollar sign.
And, unfortunately, public companies have a primary obligation to their shareholders, not the customer's supposed nationalistic enthusiasm (however sincere or deep-running it may be), and that obligation involves maximizing profits. American-made power tools do not maximize profits, because people will not pay for them versus foreign-made. Tools that don't sell don't make profits. They lose money, and if price is the only factor holding people back from buying, the choices are to either eliminate profitability or find cheaper ways to manufacture. And then we find ourselves right back where we started.
For more information, I suggest reading "The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works - and How It's Transforming the American Economy" by Charles Fishman.
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