 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I'm going to be buying some new brakes in the next few weeks, everything else being equal I'd buy Shimano XT from Rose bikes (ignoring that they are out of stock atm). However I am debating with myself weather I should be buying Hope brakes from a British retailer, just wanted to ask the STW collective there opinions.
I'm not asking for a Hope vs Shimano Brake discussion, Really the two companies are convenient examples, so please just opinions on weather its worth supporting British companies or is it misguided and should we be indiscriminately letting capitalism rule out?
I would always prefer to support/buy British if there isn't too great a difference in price and quality. By always chasing the cheapest option we are frequently slowly eroding our own economical strength as a nation.
Do you think they provide you with good value for money?
Don't forget to support your local LBS too mind by buying from them too 😉
Protectionist! 😉 (I tend to buy British where reasonable too)
Are you in favour of protectionism generally? As a nation, we earn lots of money through exports. If everyone adopted the same approach, you'd be looking at mass redundancies in the UK.
Performance/Price
Availability
Vendor nationality
Is typically the order I decide on stuff. Given the Hopes would be twice as much as the XT's from Rose and perform no better they wouldn't get a look in... Paying small amounts for 'local' stuff is a worthwhile thing I think but generally the differences are too great to justify (for me).
What is a British company?
As a nation, we earn lots of money through exports
What is our trade balance?
My general thoughts on protectionism are that it [b]can[/b] breed inefficiency and [b]can[/b] just prolong the inevitable, that being said I do think there is a middle ground but I'm not sure where it is for me.
Are you in favour of protectionism generally?
I wouldn't regard individuals choosing to use a UK company over foreign as protectionism, government policy to introduce tariffs or quotas would be
Simple question,
ignore whether you think the product is crap for a moment.
Do you buy a mini, it is made in the UK, the employees are on the whole british. Or do you not buy it because the company is owned by Germans?
Do you buy a Jaguar, again made in the UK by predominantly British workers who will pay tax, shop etc. Or because Tata is an indian company you ignore it?
etc?
Do you use the self service tills or the operator tills?
In some ways you can either buy a british product or pay dole to the british unemployed because you won't buy british products. Simlarly if you use the automated tills one less till operator, so one more dole claimant. It will cost you, one way you know how much the other you don't.
And there is the issue of spare parts and service to consider. I've had great service and spares from Hope in the past. Shimano?... hahahahahahahah...
Are you in favour of protectionism generally? As a nation, we earn lots of money through exports. If everyone adopted the same approach, you'd be looking at mass redundancies in the UK.
Every country with any restrictive immigration policy is practising protectionism far more significantly than any import/expot policy.
Left to a free labour market, 80-90% of native workers would be replaced by cheaper, and often more productive, immigrant workers.
Ha-Joon Chang, Cambridge Professor of Economics
Do you pay VAT to the UK when you buy from Rose?
About the same as cash in hand really 😉
Left to a free labour market, 80-90% of native workers would be replaced by cheaper, and often more productive, immigrant workers.
Ha-Joon Chang, Cambridge Professor of Economics (who I'm sure didn't get the job just because he was cheaper and more productive than his British counterpart)
Would they actually be 'replaced', or would salaries just have to increase in other countries where labour is currently cheaper?
Free trade can bring benefits and costs, so the argument regarding buying British is not clear cut. But the idea that not buying British is slowly eroding our nation's economic strength simply does not hold true. We have had plenty of experience of "protecting GB" industries but with largely predictable and largely negative LT consequences. There are costs of protecting uncompetive domestic industries just as there are with unbridled competition. On balance, supporting competitive industries irrespective of ownership and nationality is likely to lead to better LT performance.
I would buy a mini or a jag if I felt it was the best car to suit my needs. Simple really.