Unless you?re a collectivist, smart growth advocate, or global warming alarmist, you probably have a hard time finding a bright side when facing $4 per gallon gas bills.
That hasn?t stopped TIME from trying to identify the top 10 reasons to enjoy high-priced gas. I’m reminded of the famous joke quoted in this blog entry’s headline.
Many of the magazine?s reasons are flawed. I?ll focus on just the first one: ?Globalized jobs return home.?
TIME focuses on John Smith and his ?high-end? furniture company, Willem Smith, which had expanded operations to Vietnam and Ecuador in 2003 to help increase competitiveness:
By last year, the cost of making and importing one of his favorite pieces, the Caballero chair, was ballooning. He was shipping Italian leather to Vietnam and then shipping the large chair back to the States. There were other problems too, like inflation in Vietnam. So last January, Willem Smith “repatriated” the Caballero to Hickory, N.C. That shift helps contain shipping costs and has other perks. “People are happy to buy American,” Smith says. “And it felt kind of nice to bring this one home.”
While some will cheer about the jobs brought to Hickory, they ignore the big loser in this transaction: the customer. If Willem Smith spends more money creating its product, consumers will pay the extra costs.
Higher prices might not matter to the typical customer of ?high-end? furniture, but price hikes matter to the people who can no longer afford to buy Willem Smith?s goods.
Now imagine this same process affecting other companies that produce low-cost goods most Americans demand. Returning ?globalized? jobs to the United States means higher prices. That doesn?t sound like a great deal to me.
