[AT] 1970's farm equipment

[James Peck]

I worked for a GM division a little in the late sixties. The focus then was on making all components so they ended their life at 10 years.  The items that lasted longer were made too well.

[Henry Miller] The 1970s when efficiency experts ruled every thing with the bean counters. Cut cost and quality were number one. The auto world had it worse than most because they suddenly had to meet emissions rules that they didn't really know how to do and so rube Goldberg contraptions were designed to that standard with predictable results. 

Modern just in time is often very inefficient, but the cost savings elsewhere make it vastly more cost effective. Consumers have also caught on to the idea that quality is sometimes worth paying for. Where the above doesn't apply is a race to the bottom that we can't win. China, like Taiwan and Japan before them is starting to drop out of the game. Africa is probably next in my opinion: Vietnam and Pakistan play a bit but they are not large enough and to beat China and they are not far behind China into getting out of that hole. India could win for a while, but they have a lot of smart people who know how to make quality (training on the job in the US or Europe) and would rather skip the cheap junk period. 

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