mish34

Notes From the Rabbit Hole

$550 Million Will Create 400 Jobs... In Mexico

By Mike Shedlock

February 9, 2010

It takes ever increasing amounts of money to create just a few manufacturing jobs. Here is a case in point. Please consider Chrysler pledges $550M to build Fiat 500 in Mexico.

Chrysler Group LLC says it will invest $550 million to build the Fiat 500 minicar at its assembly plant near Mexico City.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says the new work at its Toluca plant will create 400 jobs. He said Monday the company will begin making the model in December for U.S. and Latin American markets.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon says Chrysler will produce between 100,000 and 130,000 vehicles at the plant, creating about 1,200 indirect jobs. Chrysler says the Mexican government has provided a $400 million incentive package for the project, the majority of it as loans.

Giant Sucking Sound?

Wow. A mere 400 people can produce between 100,000 and 130,000 vehicles a year.

Ross Perot talked about the Giant Sucking Sound of free trade.

The reality is that in the grand scheme of of 10.8 million unemployed, 400 jobs (1,600 if you count indirect jobs) is statistically meaningless.

Manufacturing jobs are not vanishing because of free trade, they are vanishing because assembly lines have been replaced by robots everywhere. Even China is losing manufacturing jobs.

Think of the Implications

Think of the competition for jobs from those currently unemployed.
Think of the competition for jobs from those graduating from high school.
Think of the competition for jobs from those who are about to graduate from college.
Think about the future competition for jobs from those who decide to stay in college to earn a masters or PhD because there are no jobs now.
Think about those wanting to retire but can't so they compete against their kids and grandkids for jobs.
Think what that competition will do to wages.
Think what that competition will do to benefits.

Think!

Most of all, think about the attitudes of unions and politicians who want your taxes to go up to support salaries and benefits of union workers that far exceed what the private sectors receive.

After thinking about all that, think about voting against any candidate supported by the teachers' union, the firefighters' union, the police union, or for that matter any union.

Don't Just Think, Act!

Vote against any candidate who wants to raise your taxes to benefit themselves. How do you find those candidates? It's easy. Vote against any candidate supported by the teachers' union, the firefighters' union, the police union, or for that matter any union.

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