"sf" > wrote
> I know there's a delicate balance; but I want more government
> regulation not less. In the USA, "free market" just means "take it to
> China to be manufactured as cheaply as possible" and cheap doesn't
> just mean "inexpensive", it means "shoddy" too. So the big question
> for business in these virtually unregulated times of a "free market
> economy" is to figure out how shoddy a product they can get away with
> selling to the public or other businesses (which include our
> government & military) at a certain price point.

So you think regulations will improve quality? Should the government write
specifications for can openers, toaster element thickness, the alloy to use
in cookware with minimum thickness?

First, let me say that the Chinese are capable of making very high quality
products. It is the American writing the specifications that makes the
products shoddy. Just look at the decline of American made products even
before they moved overseas. Look back at the cheapening of power tools,
look at the US made Teflon fry pans of the 1970's, and a lot of other crap
that was in the stores. Remember when Black & Decker was a high quality
tool? Now it is junk and I won't touch it.

Sadly, the American public buys by price. You can buy a Kitchen Aid toaster
for $50, or you can buy a China made GE for WalMart for $8. If no one
bought the $8 toasters, WalMart would stop having them made and the KA sales
would increase. I could not find a toaster aside from Dualit (over $200)
that was not made in China, but some had far better specifications.

We don't need regulation, we need educated consumers that know what a
quality product is and willing to pay for it. You want to buy junk? We'll
make junk for you. We want 15¢ hamburgers and if you make them, we'll buy
billions of them.