Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/457216
60 The PCB Magazine • February 2015 combat conditions. There are a lot of things that you have to be concerned about, and one of things that I have mentioned over and over is the amount of automation that is coming here. As a matter of fact, in order for these big boys to compete, they have to accelerate automation. We just had a customer this morning tell us, "I want that machine, but I want it automated. If it's not automated, I'm not going to get it. I want full automation." So then you have to ask yourself a ques - tion, if they automate as much as they're go- ing to be automated, what are you going to do with all the people? America has 300 million people and they have 1.5 billion. There's going to be some uncertainty, because their population is so large and they're still not at the education level where they can do other things and it will definitely affect their economy. We were talking the other day about Foxconn putting in 100,000 robots this year, and next year they want to up it to 1 million robots, and the year after that even more. But what are you going to do with all the people? We have to begin to think about that today. Barry: Interesting that you mention it, because I was looking at the new genera - tion of young people here and it's so different from just 10 years ago—their attitudes, the status that they're going for with iPhones and such, and especially the amount of cars. Holy simoly, there used to be just one or two cars in a parking lot! Hamed: And they're all good cars! Barry: Yeah, they're Audis and BMWs and so on. Lionel: The problem with the young people here is that they've all been weaned to have an expectation of material growth, and there's just not going to be that much available. It's going to cause a lot of unrest because of this expectation level. "Hey, why can't we have that? Why can't we have it now?" Gene: Yes, there are several things. First will be the expectation. Secondly, more and more Asian business managers are saying, "We no longer trust the Americans; it›s too expensive to do business there. Yes, we like to own prop - erty there, but I don›t know if we want to actu- ally be there." At the same time we look at the other changes on taxes—we're still increasing taxes and they are not. So even if we built these things in the states, to whom are we going to sell them? We're importing it but we still have to export it. Hamed: I think that Gene makes a very good point. If the United States govern- ment continues to increase tax- es on American business, why should we do anything there? You're a businessman and you're going to go where the best deals are. Our corporate tax rate today is 39%, and it's crazy! We used to joke about the Germans having higher taxes than us, and now we›re higher than the Germans. It›s ridiculous. I›m just hoping that the next administration begins to address these issues, because this administration doesn›t get it at all; business will continue to decline and leave the country. The other very important point that Gene and Lionel mentioned earlier is that at the new Whelen factory, a fresh new PCB plant and one of the first built in 20 years in the U.S., only 12 people were running the entire factory. This is where we need to be going to bring back business to America, but at the same time, what are you going to do with the people who aren›t going to have jobs? Do you think Ferguson was the begin - ning? Barry: That was just a demonstration of what a fine line civility and chaos live on. Gene: Well, that came up in another conver- sation with some of our Asian friends yesterday, too. They said in Hong Kong, the civil disobedi- ence leaders voluntarily walked into police sta- tions even though there was no arrest warrant out and said here we are, and then they were sent home and they walked out. In the U.S., fol- lowing the due process of law with a result ac- cording to the due process of law, we have riots and parades all over the country. And I cannot interview CHINA OUTLOOK continues