[Publib] Re: Layoffs in LA and Elsewhere

[Robert Balliot]

Rhode Island shows a $100 m drop in revenue so far this year.  So, public
employment and services
face a great deal of uncertainty here too  - closing schools and libraries
to 'save' money.

During the 70s and 80s  New England rust belt manufacturing made a massive
exodus to the South for
cheaper labor and less regulation. In the 90s and 00s companies moved
offshore, taking advantage
of no government regulation and extremely cheap labor.  The big box stores
proliferated and undermined
small local businesses. In order to sell to the big box stores, you had to
have the lowest prices
so they favored offshore manufacturers - managers who favored local
manufacturers were
fired for not inviting bids from offshore manufacturing.

The consumers were happy since they got things a bit cheaper than they did
before.  But, manufacturing
was no longer helping to sustain a middle class and small businesses that
reinvested their profits
locally were gone. Brand after product brand was either copied offshore  or
pushed offshore to compete.
Intellectual property became almost meaningless with patent after patent
copied, manufactured in bulk
and dumped on the local markets.

As everyone saved a little bit and bought more and more - the money left the
country.
It went to China to help build their roads and bridges and
military<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzzULJt2ZiW2IZR3KKuViEpbOAlQD980NNTO0>.
It went
offshore to tax havens <http://preview.tinyurl.com/cdr6do> for the
big business owners - no longer investing in the local economy.  As business
proliferated in China, demand for materials and energy went up - driving up
oil prices.  So, we
used our credit cards to sustain our quality of life - borrowing from China
and the middle east investors
who had bought the banks to pay double in energy costs.

But we all 'saved' a little bit and got things a little cheaper at the
expense of our neighbors, communities
and finally ourselves.  And, it turned out not to be a savings at all.  Now
we are closing schools and
libraries to 'save' money.

Buy locally, support your local business owners and manufacturers and
reinvest in your local economy.
Create real sustainable stimulus. As consumers, we created the problem - as
consumers we can solve it.

R. Balliot
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com



On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 8:38 PM, <Backwage at aol.com> wrote:

>  L.A. council initiates layoff process for 400 city workers<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/la-budget.html>
>
> Faced with a looming $530-million budget gap, the Los Angeles City Council
> voted today to initiate the layoff process for up to 400 city workers and
> eliminate 1,200 vacant positions.
>
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