Only a small portion of consumer goods are manufactured in the United States - some are assembled here from imported parts. This being the case, what difference does it make if 100% of the computer systems in the United States are remediated if our trading partners cannot provide us with the products we need?

-- Nadine Zint (nadine@hillsboro.net), July 23, 1999

Answers

This might help Nadine.

US Dept of Commerce: Y2k and the Global Trading System

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 000lL0

Sobering.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 23, 1999.

Now, now, don't be asking THOSE kinds of questions, it really gets the pollys very upset. Clearly you have a misbehaving "meme" that needs to be cleansed. And if you get other subversive ideas, like maybe even in the good ol' U.S.A., things really won't get fixed after all -- ignore it, just that bad meme agting up again. Oh, and don't take cash out of the bank, either.

There now, that completes your polly lesson for the day.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), July 23, 1999.

You aren't missing anything Nadine. This aspect of the 'discussion of Y2K' is what constitutes a waste of words IMHO. To glow about the goal of remediation being reached in ONE link of the chain or ONE thread of the web, is naive. Of course, I'm certainly not an expert in ANY field and you may prefer to disregard any opinion I may have about anything :)

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), July 23, 1999.

Nadine:

You are not missing anything. We've built the house of cards very, very high worldwide. Now, there is a windstorm coming.....

It used to be considered important to National Security to maintain key manufacturing production in this country, especially basics like automotive, steel, aluminum, etc. Bluntly, war making capacity. Even this has eroded in the last 20 years.

Wouldn't it be embarrassing to be in a conflict with a country that was a key supplier of some small but critical item to our DOD??

-- Jon Williamson (jwilliamson003@sprintmail.com), July 23, 1999.

Exactly Jon, although it wouldn't be the first time the DOD has been embarrassed. LOL

The little essay entitled, "I, Pencil" comes to mind. What about "I, Gasoline" or "I, Pharmaceuticals"?

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), July 23, 1999.

This is a good time to stock up on shoes, by the way, if you can afford to. Almost no shoes are made in the U.S. If ya see nice boots on sale, GET THEM, even if you don't need them now. Stash them in the back of a closet. Whatever else happens you'll always need shoes eventually, if you're still alive & still have feet.

-- one more thing (to@worry.about), July 23, 1999.

Nadine, Take a look at

Y2k Dependency Map

Techno-Economic Engine

Bear in mind that (in the Dependency Map), "Other Country" is an entire map just like the main map shown. In other words, dependencies nest to infinite levels because of international trade.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), July 23, 1999.

Here's a second vote for buying up all those cheap foreign goods while they're still available.

Imagine a Target, Walmart, or Kmart without imported goods? Or with a big delay in shipping of imported goods?

-- Mommacares (harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), July 23, 1999.

Another good thread.. on the Forbes article on the 100 largest US multinational corporations. Shows what percent of their revenue comes from foreign sorces. Link

You can download it as a spreadsheet page and then play with the columns... sort by the % of foreign income for example. Very enlightening (if something that increases doom can be said to be "enlightening"). This and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce document should be kept handy for any Community Conversations or other occassions when you might encounter the "we're okay here in the U.S. but its those OTHER countries I'm worried about" speech.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 23, 1999.