Re: [PLUG] Free Software

["Sonny To" <son.c.to@gmail.com>]

On 10/26/07, Matthew Rosewarne <mrosewarne@inoutbox.com> wrote:
> On Friday 26 October 2007, zuzu wrote:
> Most of what we buy, particularly what we _need_ to buy, is the product of the
> manufacturing economy.  Creative labour isn't really that important if you
> can't build whatever it is that you're dreaming up.  A major problem for the
> US is that we have bought into the idea that we no longer need to make
> anything, and so we are actively dissolving our economic future.  The reason
> the US rose to be an economic powerhouse in the late 19th century, other than
> its agricultural prowess, was its immense manufacturing base.  Only in recent
> history did we essentially abandon manufacturing to become a consumer
> and "knowledge" economy, which is an entirely unsustainable model.  It's not
> that we don't need creativity or knowledge, but unless we can actually
> manufacture things, our chances of continued success are quite slim.

maybe u should read more about economics. why do we need to
manufacture anything if someone else can do it much cheaper? Its
called comparative advantage.  It is why individual/countries engage
in trade of goods and services.
The only reason I can see not to outsource everything is more
politically motivated.
For example if China and US were to go to war. The US would be screwed
if most of its goods are manufactured in China. China would also be
screwed cuz the US is the largest consumer of its export base economy.
A corollary of this is trading between countries makes them co
dependent and increases world peace because it is unprofitable to go
to war. Most wars are base on economics anyway.

and speaking of the US leading in the knowledge economy. its true, but
India and China would catch up quickly because all thats required are
human brains and the countries with the most of those are Indian and
China. I once heard a joke that goes something like "Silicon Valley is
built using IC. not the Integrated Circuit but  Indian and Chinese".
Some people argued the reason why the US shot ahead of Europe is
mainly because it has a larger population. With more brains, more
creative ideas are generated which can create technology that has a
non linear affect on the economy. With future technology, one person
can feed the whole world (perhaps in 1000yrs :->) .


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