Originally posted by: jvmitche1
While I hesitate to crap on any great deals, I think we all must balance the great deals with the long term consequences. The APEX items, while always a great price, and at times a great product (I have one of the original DVD players, the thing is amazing) need to be weighed in that light. Sometimes we end up selling out to save $25 or $50. Hey, I'm no Free-Tibet, Vegan, Hippie either -- I'm someone just like you who's starting to see the big picture.
The APEX items are manufactured in China, and presently the Chinese government is intentionally depressing their currency in order to make these items cheaper, causing trade deficits to skyrocket and businesses scramble to compete. While I know getting a great deal is part of American culture, so is having decent companies and businesses exist here in the US -- and while almost all electronics manufactuers are not based in the US, many are still based in countries with some semblance of fair competition in capitalism and democracy. While I know choosing something "Made in Taiwan" versus "Made in China" seems like a trivial difference (by the way, that's how bad it is, we have to choose between the lesser of two evils) -- choosing China really is bad news. Beijing's economy is forecast to grow 9-10% this year -- ask yourself how our economy is doing. In the meantime, more jobs and investments are headed there.
"Economists also concur that the tidal influx of goods with bargain-basement prices throws the U.S. economy out of kilter. China, they say, becomes a leading source of American "deflation" - a downward spiral of falling prices that depresses earnings, wages and hiring."
Read up and start opening your eyes and your friends eyes. The media is never going to push this. We all need to wake up and see these scary developments. Don't feel like you can't ever by another Chinese item, or get an awesome deal on a big screen tv, but just be aware and understand what's going on....
http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/aug03/162995.asp
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030806/wl_nm/economy_china_dc_2
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/dowjones/20030730/bs_dowjones/200307292144001822