Unfettered Letters

January 26, 2012

Made in America is vanishing in America

A Jan. 16 letter writer explains that Kansas City Power & Light Co. is buying electrical meters made in Mexico. I have another equally distressing discovery.

While walking the recently rebuilt roads in the Northland around Barry Road, Amity, Congress and Tiffany Springs, I see that all the manhole covers for storm and sanitary sewers are made in India.

There are more than 100 in these four to five miles that I regularly walk — all with the Kansas City logo and “Made in India” cast into the top.

Why does Kansas City not buy from our local manufacturers?

Lyle E. Phillips
Weatherby Lake

Posted by Letters Editor at Jan 26, 2012 11:29:33 PM | Permalink

Comments

KC Atheist,

Are you sure you are actually an atheist? If your IP address begins with one of these you may have a problem

69.171.162
69.247.160
208.54.38

Also, are you sure you are "not" an American yourself? Then you definitely have a problem.

Posted by: IP Address Hunter | January 29, 2012 at 09:20 AM

The plan is for you Americans, who have used over half of the worlds resources for generations, to start living like the rest of the world!

Bahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Posted by: A KC Atheist | January 29, 2012 at 06:22 AM

in addition to the wage differential you have

[a] a lack of industrial ed training

[b] a lack of interest in the field

[c] an over emphasis in 'a college degree'

[d] room temperature IQs

[e] joining fellow industrial, non metric power houses: Liberia, Thailand!

Posted by: a ruskin fence on every school campus | January 28, 2012 at 05:49 AM

I can find no record of employee unions at either Neenah or Clay and Bailey. I suspect someone is only guily of wishful thinking and Dittohead hopiness.

If economics demands Americans lower their standard of living down to China and India's all in the name of economic competitiveness, it's a bleak future someone has planned for us.

Overseas "steelworkers" aren't anywhere close to the skill level of Americans or Canadians or Europeans. Their skills are pretty poor. The only thing they bring to the table is their inexpensiveness.

Posted by: whispering_to_kc | January 27, 2012 at 03:50 PM

Anyone who thinks that our companies can compete with the labor costs of companies in China and India doesn't understand basic economics.

The majority of the cost of any manufactured product is the labor involved in making it. If the labor in China or India cost a third of what the same labor costs in the US you would have to be a fool not to move your factory there.

Ask yourself why a steelworker in the US gets paid anywhere from 3 to ten times more than an equally skilled steelworker overseas.

Basic economics.

Posted by: Navyvet | January 27, 2012 at 02:14 PM

.....anyone with views on manufacturing based on a return to the past as being in any way our future is dreaming....

Posted by: solomon | January 27, 2012 at 12:34 PM

Maybe because a manhole cover made in India by non-union workers is cheaper than one made locally by workers belonging to the steelworker's union.

Why should the city pay more? Here's an idea....how about if the local company charges less, cut costs, trim some fat (administration salaries for instance) or pay their workers less?

We can't compete with foreign workers because to many American companies are locked in to contracts that favor unions. Give companies back the ability to set their own wages and maybe we can start buying local again.

Posted by: Navyvet | January 27, 2012 at 12:01 PM