ginger pom said...

If something is designed in Oz but manufactured to completion OS is that better or worse than something that is nearly finished overseas and then bolted together in OZ.

If a severne sail costs $80 to manufacture but retails for $700, then that's $620 to Australia. If a boom gets assembled here but the raw materials are 90% of the cost then what does that mean.

If you spend less on a foreign product and spend the change on VB in an Aussie pub or go on holiday to WA, then is that the same as supporting an Aussie product.

And Holden IS owned by GM... but Toyota comes from a country that hunts whales for scientific purposes...

Ahhh, the multiplier effect in economics:

If $100 is spent in OZ, and none leaves the country but is used to pay other suppliers, wages etc it multiplies continually (well less the C.A.R. and tax effect - wont go into that but less than 10% lost on each multiple).

Whereas if $80 of that $100 went straight offshore the only multiplier effect is on the $20 that remains in OZ - get the picture. The effect is far far greater than the initial value if you spend local and that person spends local etc.

So moral is what???

ps: is severne sails Oz owned? I get the impression it may be majority owned by Starboard - or with high transfer pricing with starboard contracted to run the production and technical show. Please prove me wrong - I am very willing to be convinced otherwise.

torquay fin co , ???

WINDY MILLER said...

torquay fin co , ???

I believe Torquay finished up a couple of years ago Windy.


What "JP Australia" isn't Aussie ?? Just when a fella thinks he's doing the right thing....I'll have to sell half my boards now

Actually, with the JP 'site sponsor' banner above that last post I'd better retract the bit about selling the boards. My excite and supersport boards are fantastic boards to sail but its disappointing if they mean so little to our economy.

If people in Australia are willing to work for $2 an hour then our manufacturing will boom so will the pollution associated with it,any takers?

Its good to buy Australian made if its world class.

But remember, there is often an imported content in any Australian made product.

And of course, if the Australian owner of that business then goes out and buys a plasma telly with your mark-up then the money ends up offshore anyway (less the margin for the Australian retailer of the telly). So your ability to influence matters is marginal (albeit not in vain, don't get me wrong, just marginal).

At the end of the day, our combined marginal propensity to consume imports as a nation is pretty fixed, and feeds into the 'multiiplier' identity (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spending_multiplier).

Finally, lets not 'crowd out' the things we do best, like making wine, or designing things (even if they are made overseas), by 'protecting' second rate products. That way, we all get the gains from trade.

So choose the best product for your need - hopefully its got a high proportion of Australian value add. If not, vote with your $, and don't feel too guilty about it!

Dweller is a Melbourne Windsurf Board Designer and Manufacturer:
www.dwellerdesigns.com

Aussie Designed and Manufactured:

- Windsurfer One Design boards (Sydney)
- OES Australia boards (SA)
- Stone Surf Designs (SSD) boards
- Delta boards (WA)
- NUDE boards (WA - PM user "hoop")
- NXS boards (Caloundra Qld)
- Rider Custom boards (WA - PM user "Rider5")
- Kattana Boards (WA)
- Wave Wands (WA - PM user Decrepit)
- Gath helmets (Margaret River, WA)
- Hydrodynamix Booms, Bases & Accessories (WA)
- Tyronsea Bases & Extensions (WA)
- Time machine speed fins (Vic)
- VMG Blades Fins - Formula (NSW)
- CL Fins (WA)
- WindWarrior wetsuits (NSW)
- Jez's Knob (WA)

Aussie Designed, Manufactured Overseas:

- Severne sails (WA)
- Flying Objects (WA)
- KA Sails (Melbourne)
- Seabreeze Sunnies (WA)
- Triple-X wetsuits (?)