AAPL is a symbol of American innovation, but it has created more jobs in China than in America.
“IPad, the Macs, the iPhones, they are all manufactured in China,” Candy Crowley asked in the presidential debate Tuesday night. “One of the major reasons is labor is so much cheaper. How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?”
As Crowley asked the question my thought immediately went to Steve Jobs‘ account of a meeting with Obama as described in his biography by Walter Isaacson. Jobs told Obama that he was headed for a one term presidency. Jobs shared with Obama as to how easy it was to build a factory in China and how difficult it was to build a similar factory in America. The reasons Jobs gave were regulations and the administration not being business friendly.
What Jobs told Obama was in line with the Republican playbook. Romney missed an opportunity by not answering the question with the prediction made by Jobs. Instead, Romney’s answer was to lower corporate tax rate to 25% down from its current 35%. For someone with the business background of Romney, the answer showed lack of simple facts.
Apple employs, through its contractors, about 700,000 assembly workers in China. These workers typically make about $18 per day. It is hard to fathom American workers laboring for $18 per day even if there were no minimum wage law.
In contrast to Romney’s substantial business background, Obama has no business background. Ironically, Romney gave the wrong answer and Obama gave the right answer. “Candy, there are some jobs that are not going to come back, because they’re low-wage, low-skill jobs,” Obama said…Read more at Forbes
