Nick said:

>Remember the way that Japanese industry rebuilt after the war
>and started exporting to the USA. At first their products were a
>joke, but cheap & disposable,and therefore they sold well.
>Eventually, they became leaders in quality and application of
>technology, even if they were seldom innovators outside of the
>electronics industry.
>
>Now, the electronics hubs have moved through Malaysia,
>Singapore, and Taiwan into mainland china. Engineering is
>following.
>
>One day everything will be stamped "made in China". What will
>we pay them with?

That day has almost arrived. What Nick accurately described for Japanese products, I have already observed with Chinese products. In the beginning, Chinese tools were appearing in our hardware stores priced for little more than their scrap metal value. Those original Chinese tools were useless junk. Now those same tools are just as good as their American equivalents but the Chinese tools are going for a ridiculous fraction of the price for American tools. The Chinese tools are so cheap that I feel like an idiot buying American tools. The Japanese used this same basic marketing strategy when they wiped out the high-end German camera industry (Rolleiflex, Leica, etc.), the American consumer electronics industry (RCA, Sylvania, etc.) and the low-end American automobile industry (remember Amercian Motors and the Rambler?). Nick's question: "What will we pay them with?" is highly relevant. The Australians will stay afloat for a short while selling primary products, e.g. iron ore from Port Headland, coal from Queensland and bauxite from Weipa. However we're almost mined out in America. Without a domestic manufacturing capability, our only basis for international trade will be basic agriculture, timber and anthracite. We (the United States) are sleep walking towards a cliff and nobody seems to be worried.

Gary