patrick.net

BMW also makes their sportscars in South Carolina, not just their SUV.
www.bmwusfactory.com

However, Mazda still makes the Miata in Hiroshima, which may account for their glowing reviews.

A guy I used to work with pulled $75K out on a HELOC for a fancy pants Mercedes sportscar three years ago. I wonder how he feels now that his cheapo condo in Sunnyvale isn't worth what he had hoped it would be by now.

That guy made fun of me for buying a lowly Miata (for cash). I think the boot's on the other leg now as they say in Limeyland. He's probably underwater with mortgages and the HELOC. I simply sold my place in Cambrian Park and used to proceeds to retire upon. He's still a wage slave.

New thread: Bakersfield Californian eliminates 12.5% of staff due to 'decline in real estate advertising revenue'

@RandyH -
the problem with the 'exporting inflation to China' theory is that they export it back by buying truckloads of low interest debt.

@DennisN -
I wasn't aware that the Z4 was US-made. I thought it was only the SUV's. I recently drove a friend's new '07 Miata, really sweet car. I just wish they would get a little more adventurous with the styling, or have a differently skinned version. I would totally buy a Japanese-built Miata that looked like the Alfa 8C...

SP

@SP

No they don't export it back. It is unrealized because they keep increasing their foreign denominated debt holdings. If anything they are exporting deflation (or rather containing price inflation).

Because they send cheap crap here workers can buy stuff with lower wages. That takes off wage inflation pressures and is visible in the stagnant or decreasing wages of all but the top 2-classes of US worker. If they were sending inflation back to us then wages would have to inflate and/or people's purchasing power would have to go down.

Someone will eat the inflation eventually. My money is that it mostly won't be us. There is a chance that China just burns it off slowly over many decades, using it as a lever to control their expansion in the form of real rates-brakes.

Astrid and HeadSet,

I'd agree that it is an age old tradition to BYOB when heading for Scandinavia,
or in more rural areas, perhaps have connections with a local "entrepeneur".

As for beer prices, I'd think you could get a pint for about $8-9, but in a hotel
bar it might be the $14 that HeadSet experienced in '93. I think competition has increased since then. Generally speaking, don't be surprised if consumables are about 2X US prices for comparable items, but it can be less as well if you shop around a little.