Professor Answers Supply Chain Questions - Tech Support - WIRED
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Date: 2025-04-11
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Comments and reviews: 20
amywhelan4888
I hate that it’s just a given that overseas and immigrant labor is cheaper. Why don’t those workers deserve the same wages as American-born workers How are countries like China and India able to sustain their workforces on such low wages
I imagine at least some of it boils down to more dense housing. Right Dense, cheap housing leads to lower cost of living, leads to less demand for high wages. Our labor here in the US may seem expensive when compared to other nations, but it’s still not enough. Most of us spend >50% of our income on housing alone. I wish America would invest in infrastructure like affordable housing and public transit. Then our labor wouldn’t need to pay out so much.
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I hate that it’s just a given that overseas and immigrant labor is cheaper. Why don’t those workers deserve the same wages as American-born workers How are countries like China and India able to sustain their workforces on such low wages
I imagine at least some of it boils down to more dense housing. Right Dense, cheap housing leads to lower cost of living, leads to less demand for high wages. Our labor here in the US may seem expensive when compared to other nations, but it’s still not enough. Most of us spend >50% of our income on housing alone. I wish America would invest in infrastructure like affordable housing and public transit. Then our labor wouldn’t need to pay out so much.
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sione_etc
Love this video, however the 7: 10 answer is extremely limited and Eurocentric. Austronesians had maritime trade networks interconnecting most of East and Southeast Asia in 2000 BCE; by the time of the Roman Empire's founding those trade routes had extended to Africa and Madagascar in the west and Melanesia/Western Polynesia in the east. Around 1000-1200 CE Pacific Islanders had trade routes for goods, treasure and tribute across the entire Pacific Ocean (at its peak, reaching the Americas in the east and back into Melanesia in the west. And even outside of the Austronesians, there were extensive trade networks on all inhabited continents that predate the Romans by thousands of years.
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Love this video, however the 7: 10 answer is extremely limited and Eurocentric. Austronesians had maritime trade networks interconnecting most of East and Southeast Asia in 2000 BCE; by the time of the Roman Empire's founding those trade routes had extended to Africa and Madagascar in the west and Melanesia/Western Polynesia in the east. Around 1000-1200 CE Pacific Islanders had trade routes for goods, treasure and tribute across the entire Pacific Ocean (at its peak, reaching the Americas in the east and back into Melanesia in the west. And even outside of the Austronesians, there were extensive trade networks on all inhabited continents that predate the Romans by thousands of years.
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thomasjones4570
Did not even take a full minute for this to become clear propaganda and then 25 seconds more for me to realize that this is a paid for clip.
Companies pay for tariffs 100% of the time. They then choose to eat the tariff with their profits or allow their product to become so expensive they loose customers.
Lastly, since I am not watching this nonsense anymore. The largest egg supplier is now under federal investigation for PRICE FIXING. for the SECOND TIME, this time colluding with other suppliers due to evidence showing collusion to raise prices.
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Did not even take a full minute for this to become clear propaganda and then 25 seconds more for me to realize that this is a paid for clip.
Companies pay for tariffs 100% of the time. They then choose to eat the tariff with their profits or allow their product to become so expensive they loose customers.
Lastly, since I am not watching this nonsense anymore. The largest egg supplier is now under federal investigation for PRICE FIXING. for the SECOND TIME, this time colluding with other suppliers due to evidence showing collusion to raise prices.
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spoonfedspider
I don’t buy that Apple, a company which profited over $90b last year, can’t afford to pay American wages and provide its own country with jobs. lol. Not to mention his little anecdote about a manufacturing wage here costing them $40/hr Huh The average for the field is $28/hr. It’s not mathing for me personally and I’d encourage everyone to keep in mind that Wired is a private media company which does not disclose any financials or ownership stakes to the public. They probably have hidden motives and puppeteers much like any legacy media outlet.
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I don’t buy that Apple, a company which profited over $90b last year, can’t afford to pay American wages and provide its own country with jobs. lol. Not to mention his little anecdote about a manufacturing wage here costing them $40/hr Huh The average for the field is $28/hr. It’s not mathing for me personally and I’d encourage everyone to keep in mind that Wired is a private media company which does not disclose any financials or ownership stakes to the public. They probably have hidden motives and puppeteers much like any legacy media outlet.
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lafandenuel5605
19: 25 You could hardly act like the biggest clown in your planet if you were to rebuild your domestic industries with an automation and high efficiency program, say in a 10 to 15 years span.
21: 09 Same
27: 44 Only Canada, Costa Rica and Norway can have hydropower No, dozens of countries, given their geography, could have really efficient and astonishingly cheap power generation combining solar and off/on-shore wind with it. Why don't they do it Ask natural gas supply chain speculators. and well stuffed politicians.
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19: 25 You could hardly act like the biggest clown in your planet if you were to rebuild your domestic industries with an automation and high efficiency program, say in a 10 to 15 years span.
21: 09 Same
27: 44 Only Canada, Costa Rica and Norway can have hydropower No, dozens of countries, given their geography, could have really efficient and astonishingly cheap power generation combining solar and off/on-shore wind with it. Why don't they do it Ask natural gas supply chain speculators. and well stuffed politicians.
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jeffreycoe1665
We are in a trade bluster war.
The United States does not have the manufacturing capabilty to produce the products that Americans consume.
Let me repeat that in laymens terms.
If nations feel hostile and do not negotiate instead choosing to halt all trade with the United States you are fxcked.
It means goodbye iphone.
Goodbye cheap televisions.
Goodbye vegetables in the winter.
Dumbest trade war ever if you dont have the capability to produce what you are taxing.
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We are in a trade bluster war.
The United States does not have the manufacturing capabilty to produce the products that Americans consume.
Let me repeat that in laymens terms.
If nations feel hostile and do not negotiate instead choosing to halt all trade with the United States you are fxcked.
It means goodbye iphone.
Goodbye cheap televisions.
Goodbye vegetables in the winter.
Dumbest trade war ever if you dont have the capability to produce what you are taxing.
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aviatornic2839
Idk if questions get answered but why couldnt you impose a restriction where supplies coming into the US need to meet US labor standards, reducing the cost differential of being able to export the labor Like if you remove the ability for the good to be sold if it's made with more lax labor standards, then you cant sell it. Like companies would have to pay foreign workers at American standard labor rates, then wouldnt exporting labor then always be more expensive
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Idk if questions get answered but why couldnt you impose a restriction where supplies coming into the US need to meet US labor standards, reducing the cost differential of being able to export the labor Like if you remove the ability for the good to be sold if it's made with more lax labor standards, then you cant sell it. Like companies would have to pay foreign workers at American standard labor rates, then wouldnt exporting labor then always be more expensive
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samanthac. 349
Daughter/granddaughter of North Carolina furniture factory workers here. Most of those furniture (and textile) factories shut down about 25 years ago. If the old factories haven’t been knocked down yet, they’ve been converted into luxury apartment homes. Most of those factory workers are retired now, if not deceased. Those former factory workers who are still working have earned degrees and moved into other industries like healthcare, biotech, and IT.
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Daughter/granddaughter of North Carolina furniture factory workers here. Most of those furniture (and textile) factories shut down about 25 years ago. If the old factories haven’t been knocked down yet, they’ve been converted into luxury apartment homes. Most of those factory workers are retired now, if not deceased. Those former factory workers who are still working have earned degrees and moved into other industries like healthcare, biotech, and IT.
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JavieraScarratt
7: 11 this is. vastly oversimplified and borderline misleading (global trade didn't begin till 30BC news to me) but sure, i guess if you have a total of 8 seconds to explain the origins of a globalised world system before 1960 then it's as good as anything lol. there was definitely global (however you define it - international, inter-continental, or trans-oceanic) trade long before 30BC, though obviously on a much smaller scale than came later
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7: 11 this is. vastly oversimplified and borderline misleading (global trade didn't begin till 30BC news to me) but sure, i guess if you have a total of 8 seconds to explain the origins of a globalised world system before 1960 then it's as good as anything lol. there was definitely global (however you define it - international, inter-continental, or trans-oceanic) trade long before 30BC, though obviously on a much smaller scale than came later
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morgen7879
This video is very informative. I feel like it was filmed before the current tariff debacle though. and i guess that makes everything even more frightening cause we need to amplify the extent of this trade war even more than what he is speaking about when he is answering these inquiries. I could be wrong but it just seems like most of what he iss saaying is before the awful tariffs imoposed last thursday
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This video is very informative. I feel like it was filmed before the current tariff debacle though. and i guess that makes everything even more frightening cause we need to amplify the extent of this trade war even more than what he is speaking about when he is answering these inquiries. I could be wrong but it just seems like most of what he iss saaying is before the awful tariffs imoposed last thursday
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exscape
Excellent as usual, but the description of a GPU as a chip used in AI applications is depressing to me, even though it's correct. As noted it stands for GRAPHICS Processing Unit, and most consumers who are angry about GPU prices are so because of graphics use (mostly gaming, not AI use. AI use is a big part of why there is a shortage, but it's certainly not the original use case.
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Excellent as usual, but the description of a GPU as a chip used in AI applications is depressing to me, even though it's correct. As noted it stands for GRAPHICS Processing Unit, and most consumers who are angry about GPU prices are so because of graphics use (mostly gaming, not AI use. AI use is a big part of why there is a shortage, but it's certainly not the original use case.
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rin_box
so what I am understanding is, the US has been on easy mode for a LOOOONG time because they have been outsourcing labor, meanwhile China has been on hard mode and it's now paying off like one of the biggest industries in the US is film, Hollywood films are basically exported, but streaming has kind of weakened that industry, meanwhile China has always been a manufacturer.
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so what I am understanding is, the US has been on easy mode for a LOOOONG time because they have been outsourcing labor, meanwhile China has been on hard mode and it's now paying off like one of the biggest industries in the US is film, Hollywood films are basically exported, but streaming has kind of weakened that industry, meanwhile China has always been a manufacturer.
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Jcewazhere
Get a bidet. Had one during the TP shortage and laughed my butt off at it.
They have cheap seat cold water ones that're still better than nothing for. well it was $75 when I got it, I'm sure they're more now.
Later I got a fancy one that heats up the seat and the water, that was $200.
I'm sure I've saved that much on not using as much TP over the years.
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Get a bidet. Had one during the TP shortage and laughed my butt off at it.
They have cheap seat cold water ones that're still better than nothing for. well it was $75 when I got it, I'm sure they're more now.
Later I got a fancy one that heats up the seat and the water, that was $200.
I'm sure I've saved that much on not using as much TP over the years.
reply
blapblappigan8595
Uhhh Trade began with the Romans. 7: 17
No.
We have evidence of trade far before the Romans. Imported goods during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic which only intensified during the Bronze Age. If you want to get a glimpse of early antiquity trade then look at the Uluburun shipwreck found off the coast of Turkey.
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Uhhh Trade began with the Romans. 7: 17
No.
We have evidence of trade far before the Romans. Imported goods during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic which only intensified during the Bronze Age. If you want to get a glimpse of early antiquity trade then look at the Uluburun shipwreck found off the coast of Turkey.
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Squagliafrittata
Basically the US politicians has made huge strategic failures and now their don't want globalization anymore because others are winning over them. That's silly. US politics should be fired all and America should start electing real professional fugures in their government, if they want to compete in the global market.
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Basically the US politicians has made huge strategic failures and now their don't want globalization anymore because others are winning over them. That's silly. US politics should be fired all and America should start electing real professional fugures in their government, if they want to compete in the global market.
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RealSaintB
2: 40 and more to the point the tariffs have come with a one-two punch of DOGE idiots cutting off the funding for grants that would make building the manufacturing plants affordable to begin with. What will happen is we're just going to see some products just disappear entirely because of expense.
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2: 40 and more to the point the tariffs have come with a one-two punch of DOGE idiots cutting off the funding for grants that would make building the manufacturing plants affordable to begin with. What will happen is we're just going to see some products just disappear entirely because of expense.
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JubeiKibagamiFez
1 18. Egg prices have been high for the last 3 years. Are we to believe this bird flu epidemic has been going for three years. And yet, the price of chicken meat has been done or the same in the last 3 or more years. Are we also to believe that we are getting sold diseased chicken meat
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1 18. Egg prices have been high for the last 3 years. Are we to believe this bird flu epidemic has been going for three years. And yet, the price of chicken meat has been done or the same in the last 3 or more years. Are we also to believe that we are getting sold diseased chicken meat
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Atria636
In Czechia, we have construction companies that build pre-assembled low-cost houses out of retired shipping containers. Many construction companies also use containers as storage and employee space. My dad has one in their garden, where he stores all his tools and construction materials.
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In Czechia, we have construction companies that build pre-assembled low-cost houses out of retired shipping containers. Many construction companies also use containers as storage and employee space. My dad has one in their garden, where he stores all his tools and construction materials.
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paolacamacho2536
The price of eggs is totally being fixed by the egg baron monopoly. The reduced production vs. consumption trends do not justify the insane price hike at all. And the big egg corps are using increased profits to buyout smaller egg farmers instead of repleneshing lost hen stock.
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The price of eggs is totally being fixed by the egg baron monopoly. The reduced production vs. consumption trends do not justify the insane price hike at all. And the big egg corps are using increased profits to buyout smaller egg farmers instead of repleneshing lost hen stock.
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k1awdttt
The Suez Canal answer is unsatisfying and not pertinent to the question. Yes, the infrastructure hasn't keep up. But why How did the ships gain more length over decades, but the canal itself refuses to widen What benefits are there Are the companies/governments really that shortsighted
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The Suez Canal answer is unsatisfying and not pertinent to the question. Yes, the infrastructure hasn't keep up. But why How did the ships gain more length over decades, but the canal itself refuses to widen What benefits are there Are the companies/governments really that shortsighted
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