Question

What does the author describe as the negative aspects of some cheap goods produced all over the world? What roles does the U.S play in terms of these cheap goods?

Answer 1

Cheap goods are harmful to use. There will be some sort of damage made by them as they are made of lesser quality. For example, if a cheap toy is bought, then small kids who are biting it will get some sort of health issues. People should spend more on health care.

There may be a chance of dumping made by a foreign nation in the home country. Dumping means selling products at a low price than the cost of production in the host country. So domestic firms in the host count can't compete with the international firm which sells at a low price. This will make the host country to overly depend on other countries.

The US is a pioneer in the usage of the concept division of labour. So it's using many countries to make different parts of a product and assemble at a different place in order to decrease cost and increase the quality of the product. Machines are used to produce products on a large scale. But if equality of the product is not up to the level, then its a drawback. There was a movement called 'be American and buy American '. This was done to increase economic activity in the country. So the US play different roles in terms of these cheap goods.