Save the Ethiopian people by exploiting them.

[cichlaguapote]

Why pay an uneducated American $12 an hour when you can pay someone else $2 an hour for better labor. And with Ewurm's original thesis, provide them with shelter and food, things that they barely have now.

Because then you end up with a failing economy.. a surplus of empty shipping containers because we have nothing to export, etc.. In that thinking eventually america will be an all service business economy with no production, and a uber high unemployment rate which will drive wages lower and lead to america being one big sh$thole.. bigger than it already is.. America's population is growing leaps and bounds and jobs are leaving. Companys don't outsource because of quality.. the outsource because of cost thinking quality is a mute point and will be at least as good as U.S. employees production quality while saving money/not having to deal with workers who need a living wage.

 

[tunerX]

You are paying way too much. Most of the Afghan people get $4.00 a day when working for the Americans.

You can also pay on a production basis. The more an individual produces the more he gets paid. You need QC for each product. The QC should be compensated better than the rest.

 

[ewurm]

Wurm, interesting thread that went sideways. I'm always interested in listening to other ideas. One thing to note your economics professor really knows nothing about real world economics . he's probably been institutionalized his whole life living within some type of school system, never really started his own business or was an executive at any corporation. They have a tendency not to think outside the box.

Needless to say exploiting third world countries through out history has always been profitable, however why Ethiopia? Whatever country you chose you must think about the infrastructure of that country? stable Government? roads? airports? Ports? Rail ? Phone service? Electrical capacity? Hospitals? What increase in costs are you going to incur by helping to support, build, bribe in order to establish a stable environment for your factory to succeed. Another thought how stable are the bordering countries? Is the countries current army large enough to keep border skirmishes, war from impacting your profits? ( Sudan and Somalia are examples)

Ethiopia is land locked, how are your goods getting out of the country? Transportation , tariffs, taxes all add costs tremendously to your bottom line. ? Just my random 2 cents hope they help you with your school project?

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

I just use Ethiopia as an example because the country is notorious for being poor. It's land locked, so I'd have to reach a port agreement with Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, etc. Also would want to find a product that is demanded somewhat locally, so I don't end up eating all the profits in shipping.

 

[ewurm]

plus the second you start putting americans out of work with more competitive prices your country will tax the hell out of your product so it costs more over all

My country? I'm not letting the American government tax my brilliant idea, I'll renounce my citizenship and be the King of Ethiopia. I always wanted to be King. I think that the Ethiopian government would appreciate some investment in their country.

 

[jason longboard]

My country? I'm not letting the American government tax my brilliant idea, I'll renounce my citizenship and be the King of Ethiopia. I always wanted to be King. I think that the Ethiopian government would appreciate some investment in their country.

you think you would fit in?

 

[ewurm]

My country? I'm not letting the American government tax my brilliant idea, I'll renounce my citizenship and be the King of Ethiopia. I always wanted to be King. I think that the Ethiopian government would appreciate some investment in their country.

I am taking applications for the "Queen of Ethiopia" position. Males need not apply.

 

[Guinness]

This is what most of the big companies do now, and it will be the downfall of the U.S.. It leads to the reduction/elimination of the middle class. As this happens you will find an increase in political and social unrest, greater separation of the haves and have nots, and fewer and fewer people able to buy your product, thus making it not a sustainable buissnes. Unfortunaltly, these practices bring great rewards to the top tier in the short term(possibly decades). These great amounts of cash will see this top tier who caused a recession through it while the other 90% struggle to pay for necessities. We are seeing the beginning of the recession now. The coming years will be more and more difficult as those who used to be middle class working families losing ground.
Guinness

 

[TheMightyOscar]

i knew wurm was an evil genius..

 

[andregurov]

While this is an interesting thread, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Pleco. Your intent is no different than most investors: make money by "exploiting" cheap labor. Cheap labor is most available in overpopulated countries with a low standard of living. These countries usually have low GDPs, and thus extremely poor infrastructure. As a theoretical debate, your Ethiopia idea is entertaining, but any econ professor worth his salt would realize the incredible difficulties with attaining ANY goal listed, much less all. Perhaps he was just being encouraging ... but I have no idea as to what level of understanding of economics and development theory you have reached. Go dig up some Paul Baran or Andre Gunder-Frank to see the flaws in your approach.

Capital is most effective when placed in stable situations. This can mean political stability, economic stability, social stability etc. Any underdeveloped country would need such a massive investment in infrastructure - energy creation & distribution, transportation, water & sewage, currency, port facilities, and on and on and on ... including a military to maintain that potential for safe investment. The amount of money needed JUST to allow manufacture to reach an export facility would probably be in the several hundreds of millions. To make that up you'll need to make a longer workday Basically I'm just reiterating what Mr. Pleco has already stated. There is a reason why these ideas never make it past the hypothetical scenario. It is called the real world. You would do better to take an island in close proximity to major world markets - try Indonesia. At least they have some investment in infrastructure and access to numerous waterways (they are cheaper than roads!).

 

[ewurm]

While this is an interesting thread, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Pleco. Your intent is no different than most investors: make money by "exploiting" cheap labor. Cheap labor is most available in overpopulated countries with a low standard of living. These countries usually have low GDPs, and thus extremely poor infrastructure. As a theoretical debate, your Ethiopia idea is entertaining, but any econ professor worth his salt would realize the incredible difficulties with attaining ANY goal listed, much less all. Perhaps he was just being encouraging ... but I have no idea as to what level of understanding of economics and development theory you have reached. Go dig up some Paul Baran or Andre Gunder-Frank to see the flaws in your approach.

Capital is most effective when placed in stable situations. This can mean political stability, economic stability, social stability etc. Any underdeveloped country would need such a massive investment in infrastructure - energy creation & distribution, transportation, water & sewage, currency, port facilities, and on and on and on ... including a military to maintain that potential for safe investment. The amount of money needed JUST to allow manufacture to reach an export facility would probably be in the several hundreds of millions. To make that up you'll need to make a longer workday Basically I'm just reiterating what Mr. Pleco has already stated. There is a reason why these ideas never make it past the hypothetical scenario. It is called the real world. You would do better to take an island in close proximity to major world markets - try Indonesia. At least they have some investment in infrastructure and access to numerous waterways (they are cheaper than roads!).

The professor didn't say that it would be wildly successful, he just said it's a valid solution to a problem that benefits both sides even if the benefit is not equal to both sides. He wasn't predicting profitability.