Terragent said:
Given that Australian retailers import their software from the USA, the change in currency strength has inflated their profit per unit by a ludicrous amount; they weren't going out of business paying their workers when it cost them twice as much to get the software from the US back in the '90s, so bringing up relative minimum wages now is a complete furphy. Their cost of business has dropped significantly, as the wholesale price they pay for software and hardware has basically been halved by the exchange rate, and yet they haven't passed any of this saving on to the consumers. How is this not price gouging?
And seriously, you're linking me a hatchet-job from a bunch of polemicists paid to come up with right-wing drivel? They even refute their own claims by bringing up the obvious counter-arguments (amenities have become universally cheaper over the years) and make no pretence of being objective or impartial. If this is what passes for public policy in the USA then I'm not surprised that the bottom's fallen out of your economy.
So how much does it cost off the boat?
Is the boat an Australian flagged vessel? If so, minimum wage applies.
The port employees are their contracts based on the minimum wage?
The person that loads it on the truck, is his salary based on the new minimum wage?
Then the driver that gets it to the distribution facility, what about his contract?
Then finally from the distribution facility to the retail store?
If the port and warehouses are run by robots however I would be in full agreement.
The poor in the US are buying luxuries instead of capital. They are content with their station. The bottom fell out because of low interest rates back in 2001, followed by a series of credit booms and busts.
Terragent said:
You're just not reading these, are you?
>Cost of labour has basically held steady with inflation over the last twenty years
>Cost of importing goods has been drastically reduced over the same period
>Prices have stayed the same
I wonder where all of those savings have gone?
Paying dividends to shareholders.
Terragent said:
I like being ignored - it's very validating to know that you're unable to come up with a satisfactory answer to any of my rebuttals.
(incidentally, used games are cheap as anything over here)
So the workers are paid through the prices of the new video games. Then let's wait until the US companies lower their prices to reflect the price of the AUD changing. Then we can compare.
