The Chainlink

...."Why isn't daley sucking up to Schwinn to build a factory, do we need more stores to sell cheap crap?"

OK I was on another discussion and I'm wondering...

 

Is any one else bothered by the big deal made about wallmart coming to Chicago, when what we really need is GOOD long term jobs here....

 

Why isn't daley trying to bring back at least SOME manufacturing here? I mean with so many people unemployed the cost of labour MUST be down, I know Schwinn is nothing more than a name BUT there must be some companies that would be willing to try, also since the price of land is down....How about SRAM? they are headquartered here.

 

So are we just a bunch of blind sheep that want our kids to play with lead painted toys from China because they are a buck? Or is anyone willing to pay more to have a non lead painted toy?

 

Isn't there a big drywall company with offices here in Chicago ? Why did China drywall show up in the south east with mystery stuff in it that MAY be toxic ?

 

I just think it's time for a real change

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Okay, you're right my comment was sloppy and I apologize for that. I work as a design consultant for large fast-moving consumer good companies and understand that economies of scale have both positive and negative effects. I guess that's one of things I enjoy about working in and with small business. I know what we buy and generally know what they buy and can generally see where money is being spent. In large, global companies it is much more complex and largely invisible. So, I acknowledge that has less to do with the value of manufacturing locally and more to do with my personal comfort level.

notoriousDUG said:
I'm sorry but this is a really, really sloppy rationalization using completely made up numbers and I think it is not a very good representation of where the money goes. I'm not going to deny that buying locally made items in a local shop probably keeps more of each dollar spent in the local economy but I highly doubt the disparity is anywhere near what you are making it out to be.

I mean you double dipped wages in the local example; these are part of overhead. You did not account for the extra cost Target has of shipping stuff around and you are also sort of ignoring the fact that a bag sold at a local shop like Boulevard needs a much larger percentage of it's sales price put into overhead because the lower volume sold.

Maria Boustead said:
Beyond studies, it makes sense. Let's say you buy a $100 item from Target in Chicago. Probably about $20 stays in Chicago to pay for the overhead of having a store here, while $50 goes to China to pay for the item and the rest goes to Target HQ in Minneapolis to spend on HQ overhead and for buying more things from China. In comparison, if you buy $100 Po Campo bag from a Chicago store, the store keeps $50 and spends it on its overhead and buying more local product, while we get the other $50 and give it to Chicagoans to pay for their wages. There IS a difference.

First off, trust J.: for bike manufacture, it doesn't pay to make stuff in the USA, much less in the city of Chicago. (Nor are Cannondale bike frames being made in the PRC; they're made in Taiwan, where salaries aren't that cheap and where worker protections are okay.)

Daley has done more to retain manufacturing jobs in Chicago than many other cities have -- the Finkl Steel factory is one huge testament to that, or lowering Lake Street so that semis can drive under the "L" -- but let's face it, there are very few industries where it makes economic sense to locate in the city. Stuff like printing or convention exhibits, sure, since they need fast access to their customers in the city. Anything for export, though, goes to the southwest suburbs: better and uncongested access to interstates and railroads (nothing goes by lake barge), cheap space, and plenty of workers.

David said:
To bring this back to chainlink a bit, in my opinion massive improvements in bike and public transit infrastructure would attract high-skilled knowledge workers to the city and good jobs would follow. But that's another topic for another day.

Transit and bike investment does bring along local businesses, and these two sectors tend to create more local jobs per dollar than other investments (since both have relatively high labor inputs and low capital inputs). In fact, one study for New York state found that investment in transit generated more local jobs than any other sector -- although admittedly, NY has a big railcar industry upstate. Wisconsin, interestingly, has a pretty sizable bike industry around Madison and just recruited a Spanish high speed railcar company to build a factory in Milwaukee.

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