12 Christmas Gifts Not To Buy Online 176
nsingapu writes "While online shopping is booming this Christmas, niche products like "two turtle doves" purchased on the Internet are becoming increasingly more expensive then their non e-tailed counterparts. PNC bank has updated their annual tongue-in-cheek economic analysis, based on the cost of goods and services purchased by the True Love in the holiday classic, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The analysis compares the cost of traditional goods against their cost thoughout the past 20 years and against the price when purchased online. PNC concludes that most items are more expensive to buy over the Internet, primarily due to the cost of shipping, and that the abundance of cheaper labor in countries such as India and China has resulted in pressure on U.S. manufacturers to outsource."
Merry Mercantilism. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd be a lot more inclined to laugh if this weren't so serious. The financial security of our country is at serious risk given the astonishing rate of decline in the dollar since the election. With the Chinese selling off dollars like hotcakes, costs of toys made in the Orient, such as DVD players, PDAs, and iPods, will be just a little higher this year and the trend will only continue.
I hope everyone can eek out a Merry Christmas this year. It may be your last in while. With the mercantilist economic policies of the Bush Administration only likely to continue and with confidence in US financial institutions at an all time low and dropping, everyone should just make sure this is a Christmas to remember. Next year, you may not be able to give your kids anything more than a hug and an yellow onion.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Time and transportation are free? (Score:5, Interesting)
Offshoring & Boycotting Chinese Products (Score:1, Interesting)
As for offshoring, it damages worker's rights and environment in the USA. Chinese companies do not pay the cost of worker's rights and privileges (e.g. disability insurance) and the cost of protecting the environment. Hence, Chinese companies can undercut American companies.
If you see a product that is "Made in China" or "Made in India", simply do not buy it. As investments in Eastern Europe increase, you can find alternative products that are made there. Unlike the Chinese, Eastern Europeans are committed to Western values (e.g. worker's rights and environmental protection). Buy "Made in Poland" or "Made in Slovakia" (like the tail lights on my car).
Internet and Store Best Combo (Score:3, Interesting)
Specifically, the cost of 12 Drummers Drumming and 11 Pipers Piping is significantly cheaper on the internet, and you can obtain five gold rings for $15 less on the internet than traditionally.
Although, I wonder exactly what comes with "11 Pipers Piping"...
Offshoring may our way out of Economic Ruin. (Score:2, Interesting)
Still, this will all come at significant costs in terms of standard of living. A lot of our thinkgeek wishlists will fill up, but not empty. No Playstation 3 for little Billy. Indeed, we on a one-way train to becoming the Argentina of North America. Such frills will take a back seat to food and shelter.
Why People Buy Online (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Here's one hint (Score:1, Interesting)
India and China are one? ROFLMAO... (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry, but it's this sort of ignorance of the highest magnitude - not realising that China, the world's largest communist country, and India, the world's largest democracy, are two seperate countries - that has people who aren't American rolling their eyes and dismissing Americans as stupid. I mean, have you ever heard of anyone anywhere who assumes that the US and Cuba are the same country? Because that's the closest analogy I can come up with to thinking that China and India are one and the same.
To the original poster who made this dumb assumption I have this advice: it's better to say nothing and have people think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Oh, and read a book too every now and then. Believe me, right now people like you are giving your country a very bad name the world over.
I meant to do that! (Score:2, Interesting)
W isn't up to anything and Greenspan is actually worried about this state of affairs. Perhaps he should also seek professional help. W is a political idiot and an economic one too. He's running the country into the ground the same way he did his oil companies. The falling dollar is a symptom of his fiscal incompetence and it will have serious implications for the American worker in the next few years.
Of course, corporations and rich investors will be able to move their holdings into Euros and Yen so they will dodge much of the inflationary and devaluing effect of a quickly dropping currency. That's good news for bourgeois sycophants like yourself: Your boys in the ownership class will get off scott-free after taking the country for all it's worth.
Meanwhile, you'll have an especially Merry Christmas knowing you won't have any homosexual marriages in your state this season. Enjoy!
Re:Merry Mercantilism. (Score:3, Interesting)
China's Yuan is directly linked to the US Dollar
Actually, most Chinese commentators (and some american and european) seem to think that China will revaluate (now that's not a common word) the Yuan sometime in 2005. The direct link to US Dollar is rather much of a liability these days...