Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
The bright side of consumer paralysis
American manufacturing jobs won't get hit if Americans stop pulling out their credit cards, because those jobs are already gone
Andrew Leonard [2007-11-19]
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  • I don't unnerstand...

    I was powerfully influenced in high school by whatever Dicken's novel it was (Great Expectations, I think) where he has a character say, 9 pence income, 7 pence outgo, heaven. 7 pence income, 9 pence outgo, hell. I have always found that a fairly simple concept even if it is occasionally difficult to execute assuming you're trying to execute it.

    Personally, I hope credit cards dry up. Then maybe I won't get any more #%@!! credit card offers that:

    (a) I neither wanted nor asked for. And

    (b) I have to shred because if somebody else gets their hands on the credit card offer I neither wanted nor asked for, the CC company will send me the bill.

    -- Jeffrey P. Harrison
    [Read Jeffrey P. Harrison's other letters]
    Monday, November 19, 2007 09:23 AM

  • American-made dishware

    FIESTAWARE! Made by the Homer Laughlin China company in West Virginia. And since they DID have lead troubles some years ago, all their stuff is lead-free and says so. It's durable and beautiful--I've bought a mix of colors, and sometimes after I wash my dishes, I just enjoy looking at them sitting in the drainer.

    You can go to the Homer Laughlin company and buy "seconds" at great prices.

    -- oxymoron
    [Read oxymoron's other letters]
    Monday, November 19, 2007 09:56 AM

  • Used to be

    Anonymous

    It used to be that tvs were huge, heavy things that used vaccum tubes and there was a whole industry of nerds driving around fixing them. Then transistors appeared and the industry went away. It may be back now, but it was the middle period that was an abberation.

    -- Lynx
    [Read Lynx's other letters]
    Monday, November 19, 2007 10:13 AM

  • Spending

    My extended family (brothers, SILs, nieces & nephews, etc.) decided not to exchange gifts this year at Christmas. That's $1000 that I won't be spending over the next few weeks and I'm sure the others will be make similar savings (though some of them might use it for a new toy for themselves). I'll put mine into the retirment account.

    P.S. I remember the TV guy coming to my house when I was a kid to repair the tube TV.

    --Anonymous
    Monday, November 19, 2007 10:27 AM

  • Our model predicts troops in the street

    A friend and I once wrote an op-ed in the NYT concerning outsourcing. In October 2006 we were aware of the housing crunch, but our predictions were dismissed. We were told, "the demand curve shifted, that's all." Of course it's easy now to say, "we told you so."

    We've updated our models since then. We expect a catastrophic decline of the dollar between 2008 and 2009. More alarmingly, our model predicts troops in the street.

    -- Xlp Thlplylp
    [Read Xlp Thlplylp's other letters]
    Monday, November 19, 2007 10:43 AM

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