[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I agree.

I'd make a shitload more money working for Genentech in the SF Bay Area than I do here...but even with the money that Genentech is offering me ($235,000 to start) there's no way in hell I'd ever be able to afford the cost of a home on the Peninsula.

That means I'd be stuck living in Sacramento and spending six hours of each day commuting.

Fuck that.

And no doubt a lot of people across the country use the same calculus to make their employment decisions.

Still, the reverse trend is occurring where more and more employers are relocating from high cost communities to low cost communities in order to save boatloads of cash on salaries, taxes, regulations, and real estate costs.

Yup, I made the same calculation. The company I work for wanted to basically double my salary to go to Vancouver/Victoria and service a new customer. Growing tech company, doubling their staff every quarter. Would have been a great experience! But I'd be living in a travel trailer pulled behind my truck, given the prices and availability of housing.

[BartSimpson]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Yup, I made the same calculation. The company I work for wanted to basically double my salary to go to Vancouver/Victoria and service a new customer. Growing tech company, doubling their staff every quarter. Would have been a great experience! But I'd be living in a travel trailer pulled behind my truck, given the prices and availability of housing.

I wish I'd know this before we sold off our condos in Vic. Seriously, I would have been happy to have you in one of them.

[Sunnyways]

And the Brits can't wait to be 'free' to negotiate with this guy. Yet more education on the special relationship will be coming their way.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Canadians see possible signal U.S. ready to accept NAFTA compromise

American trade officials are showing newfound interest in a Canadian proposal for revamping NAFTA's automotive provisions as the U.S. seeks to swiftly conclude renegotiations of the continental free trade pact.

And that's being taken in some quarters as a sign that the U.S. may realize it will have to settle for making only modest progress on a handful of American demands if there's to be any hope of concluding a deal within the next few weeks.

At the conclusion of the last round of negotiations in Mexico earlier this month, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said "time is running very short" to get a deal before "political headwinds" — Mexico's presidential election in July, American midterms in November and provincial elections in Ontario and Quebec — start to complicate matters.

For the first time, Lighthizer made public his hope of completing a NAFTA deal — including the legally required six-month congressional consultation period and ratification vote — before a new Congress gets sworn in next January.

That would mean reaching a deal with Canada and Mexico during or very soon after the next round of talks, which have not yet been officially scheduled but are expected to start on April 8 in Washington and last at least 10 days.

Canadian government officials are privately skeptical that a deal can be concluded at such a breakneck pace, particularly since Mexico's presidential campaign officially kicks off at the end of this month and no candidate can afford to be perceived as conceding anything to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is political kryptonite in that country.

They believe the only way it can happen is if the U.S. drops many of its controversial demands and accepts modest changes in just a few key areas — in particular on automobiles, which Canadian officials have believed from the outset would be the key to a successful renegotiation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nafta-c ... -1.4582350

[BartSimpson]

I don't see Trump letting NAFTA survive. The point of this was to revoke the agreement and bring jobs back to the US mostly from a hostile Mexico.

[bootlegga]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I agree.

I'd make a shitload more money working for Genentech in the SF Bay Area than I do here...but even with the money that Genentech is offering me ($235,000 to start) there's no way in hell I'd ever be able to afford the cost of a home on the Peninsula.

That means I'd be stuck living in Sacramento and spending six hours of each day commuting.

Fuck that.

And no doubt a lot of people across the country use the same calculus to make their employment decisions.

Still, the reverse trend is occurring where more and more employers are relocating from high cost communities to low cost communities in order to save boatloads of cash on salaries, taxes, regulations, and real estate costs.

And then there's companies like Facebook and Google that are building condos and apartments for staff to rent for this very reason...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/face ... 568f84826d

https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/12/ ... -approval/

[BartSimpson]

bootlegga bootlegga:

And then there's companies like Facebook and Google that are building condos and apartments for staff to rent for this very reason...

Funny that we're witnessing the resurgence of 'company housing'.

Maybe next we'll see the comeback of the company store where workers will be transformed by debt into becoming slaves for their masters...er...employers.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Optimism returns to NAFTA talks as U.S. reportedly makes key concession on autos

Word of a breakthrough in the automotive component of NAFTA discussions have negotiators and stakeholders dealing with an unfamiliar feeling: optimism.

Speaking at a Washington gathering of the American Association of Port Authorities, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., David MacNaughton, told reporters that he's feeling more positive than he's been for some time because of progress on the automotive file, and a more general thawing of the frosty tone in earlier talks.

The Globe and Mail first reported on Tuesday evening that U.S. negotiators have dropped their contentious demand that all vehicles made in Canada and Mexico that are bound for the U.S. market must contain at least 50 per cent American-made components.

That's a key concession on a critical industry, and has raised hopes that similar progress can be made in other areas. The Canadian dollar reacted almost instantly to the news on Tuesday evening, up nearly half a cent to back above th 77 cents US level. The Mexican peso is up by slightly more, in percentage terms, against the U.S. dollar.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nafta-n ... -1.4585708

[bootlegga]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

bootlegga bootlegga:

And then there's companies like Facebook and Google that are building condos and apartments for staff to rent for this very reason...

Funny that we're witnessing the resurgence of 'company housing'.

Maybe next we'll see the comeback of the company store where workers will be transformed by debt into becoming slaves for their masters...er...employers.

Let's hope not...

[DrCaleb]

U.S. waters down another key NAFTA demand on auto content

[herbie]

Looks like someone is talking sense.
Although some still have this bizarre idea that manufacturers will bring back jobs by closing down plants in Mexico and building new ones in the higher wage USA.
Honestly they'll keep building in Mexico, add 5-10% to the duties to cover their cost of complying and pass it on as higher prices to the consumer. Your $50,000 Mexican built car will just cost $65,000, nobody will get a new job.
A set of windshield wipers will cost $50.
And you'll live with it, just like happened with razor blades.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

"This policy of appeasement, or this policy of playing nice that was attempted by the Trudeau government at the beginning, I think that that time is over," Gomez, a founder of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, told guest host Catherine Cullen.

"We have to sit down and look at what each country's national interests are and be very clear that we cannot be allies if we are not friends. And this is not a way to treat friends."

Stop trying to 'play nice' with Trump, Mexican ex-congressman tells Canada

[Tricks]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

$1:

"This policy of appeasement, or this policy of playing nice that was attempted by the Trudeau government at the beginning, I think that that time is over," Gomez, a founder of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, told guest host Catherine Cullen.

"We have to sit down and look at what each country's national interests are and be very clear that we cannot be allies if we are not friends. And this is not a way to treat friends."

Stop trying to 'play nice' with Trump, Mexican ex-congressman tells Canada

It'd be interesting what the freshly elected President does in Mexico.

[DrCaleb]

edit: I know that Mexico is the #1 destination for US corn. They both need each other, and I think that new El Presedente is one who is willing to use that as a large bargaining chip.

[llama66]

Trudope does need to stop playing nice and start being a bit more assertive. I know I ask a lot.