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November 23, 2005

The transfer of power, Wed., Nov. 23, 2005, 7:32 AM

Americans usually transfer power every four years about this time in the month. But this year " this month " there was a transfer of a different kind of power.

I am speaking of the transfer of power of U.S. capitalists to foreign capitalists as witnessed by the slow death that is going on at General Motors.

The decision by the GM management and board to cut 25,000 more jobs includes 4,000 in Canada, and 19,000 in the U.S. That's interesting because all but a couple hundred of the GM Canada cuts came at Oshawa Ontario, which just happens to be at the highest rated (productivity and quality) plants that GM owns.

Many of those workers will not skip a heartbeat. Toyota and Honda are expanding rapidly in Southern Ontario, including brand new plants. So some of the best quality jobs in the world are now going to migrate from U.S. control to Far East control.

This is all part of a process as Americans let America fall apart.

Sometime in the future, long after I have passed on, it would be my guess that Japanese capitalists will move these U.S. and Canadian auto factories back to Japan, where they will employ their own children in the best quality jobs in the world.

And if you think they have to be close to consumer markets, then I beg to differ. Who do you think builds the world's biggest ships? These ships will become floating cities. Why pay for inflated North American real estate prices to house these new cars on local car lots? They might as well be floating across the Pacific on their way to a buyer who has made the purchase by website. No inflation there.

And if there is a need to fly some of the big ticket items such as top of the line Lexus models to wealthy North Americans, the Japanese can afford to fly them over on Boeing airplanes. Why? Did you not read my article on China's disappointment over the fact that Japanese manufacturers build most of the new Boeing planes, most all except the frames and the jet engines?

It's true.

Maybe tomorrow at U.S. Thanksgiving, Americans ought to think twice about the gift of capitalism. As I see it, what U.S. capitalists have taken from you, they are now giving away to foreigners, which is to say your power.

And come to think of it, you the American consumer have helped them do it.

Posted by Posted by Bill Cara on November 23, 2005 07:32:33 AM | Category: The Big Picture

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