Whatever happened to "Made In Japan"?
When I was younger, all the cheap goods used to say "Made In Japan". People used to laugh about that. Then for some reason that ended. Was that because their prices increased? These days everything is "Made In China".
Chaos Nantuko brought it to my attention that if the Chinese raise their currency in an effort to fight inflation, that could make the Chinese goods go up. If that happens, would another country begin to manufacture many of the items that China now makes? Could China go the way of "Made In Japan"?
Best Answer
356 points
Dusty answered one year ago …
Prior to WW-2 the Japanese imported raw materials and scrap (like metals) that could be used to create their war machine. Exports were junky things that used the left over and otherwise useless fringes of all that. Those exports did a lot to supply the foreign exchange cash to buy more raw materials. Prior to WW-2 "Made in Japan" meant "Junky Trash" to most Americans and helped camoflage what Japan was really doing. Most Americans believed Japan was completely incapable of manufacturing or doing anything worthwhile. That changed suddenly due to an incident dated December 07, 1941.
After WW-2, the Japanese had a mostly very young and vigorous workforce and general population. The desire to improve their situation, like China now, combined with the Marshall Plan and a rich America hungry for products gave Japan the kick start it needed to reach its current levels. As the pay scales of the Japanese work force rose the cost of Japanese products rose. As in the standard model, the market for what had been inexpensive Japanese goods dissapeared as those became overpriced. Simultaneously the market for higher-end more expensive goods increased due to the high quality of post-war Japanese production. Most of us older folk remember "Made in Japan" just as most of our children will remember "Made in China."
Answers
158 points
marketdrop answered one year ago …
I think they will---when ? Impossible to tell . The work force in China will though want a higher pay check in time for their work . If that happens the government must raise the vaulue of their currency. That will help us better for more positve trade,but the price will go up for those products.
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139 points
Redsky answered one year ago …
Yes, why not, that's the normal evolution of things. It will take a while longer for 'Made in China' to go away though.
My bet is that it will be replaced by 'Made in Vietnam' or Indonesia or another east Asian nation with exceptionally hard working peoples!
I don't think it will be 'Made in somewhere in Africa' or 'Central Asia' in the near future, they are not positioned for that yet and they're far behind east Asia.
I also think that South America is already too busy producing food and energy than to focus on manufacturing right now.
Cheers
S
989 points
rvilmur answered one year ago …
Japan to China to Southeast Asia to ?. This is a natural evolution of manufacturing to move to what is perceived as the lowest cost manufacturing site. Manufacturing technology is easily moved from country to country. The only things that can slow down this trend to manufacture at the lowest cost site is a change in the economics, which can come from a continuous rise in shipping costs due to rising energy costs, bureaucratically government stupidity, and a major war.
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2769 points
Oldman answered one year ago …
All the above are reasonable answers, but to really appreciate what's going on with Chinese manufacturing costs, consider:
In the last year, the enforcement of structural engineering requirements began, particularly since mine and factory collapses, not to mention the earthquake damage, revealed the shoddy building techniques in the last decade;
In the last year, the Central Bank has increase reserve requirements, so "easy money' for new construction is sharply curtailed...even for those with "pull".
In the last 2 years, the costs for mfg. have risen abpout 40% (wage-based) and a lot has shifted to Vietnam, (Nike) and other companies, have shifted "outsourcing".
Internal inflation, including food and energy costs are beginning to impact GDP...6 + % inflation vs 10+ % GDP, needs a 4 % productivity gain to keep even..., but productivity (Unit production/Cost) hasn't really grown that fast, except in some high--tech health and electronics areas, which are fractional to the gross domestic product.
