How can one leave shipping out of the equation? Transporting goods half way around the globe on a giant ship creates pollution and uses oil. I would venture to guess that buying almost anything made at home or close to home would be greener than something made on the other side of the planet.

Actually, if you live on the West Coast, goods that arrive on an boat from China have much smaller transportation energy expenditures than goods that arrive via plane from the American rust belt. Container ships are one of the most efficient ways of transport. But again, the true answer depends on where you live, where the distribution centers are for the retailer, and where the item is coming from.

Though Rust belt products would be more likely to be on a train or truck, if it would be competitively priced...

But isn't that the point. Most American products are not competitively priced. China can ship stuff from the other side of the world, and still sell items significantly cheaper then goods made in the USA.

Can you even find a toaster made in the USA anymore?

No. because shipping is not a significant cost of production.

But shipping is not necessarily less efficient than train or truck: there are many variables.

The bottom line is that shipping from China combined with low production costs is less than purchase and shipping from Ohio.

The simple fact is, if it were not for the cheap labor in China and other places who manufacture most of our consumer goods, we would not be able to afford them. Your Nike's would run about $500 per pair if manufactured in the U.S. Shipping is relative. You ship 5 illion items and your cost per item is almost nil. Shipping by rail or truck in the U.S. is going to be much higher because you don't get the economy of scale you get with cargo ships, simply because you can't ship nearly as many of them and your price per unit goes through the roof, relatively speaking.

If you are oh so concerned about being a greenie, I suggest you buy a couple acres, plant a garden and raise some chickens and rabbits, make you own clothes and toys for your kids, heat your shack with cow chips and live like the settlers did in the 1870's. Wouldn' you feee so much better about yourself. Or maybe we could just nuke China, kill off about a billion of them and stop their polution.

Where would I get my sneakers? Duh!

:0)

Actually, Nike does manufacture in the USA, but sells these shoes to rich Asians for several times the price a made in Asia shoe goes for in the USA.

The whole argument falls apart when you see Made-In-USA New Balance jogging shoes (my wife's favourite) going for about half the price of similar quality foreign-made runners. They're a pretty popular shoe with hard-core runners. Saucony, also popular with the hard-core runners, (which I'm currently using for my mileage) also manages to manufacture some of their shoes in the USA.

The difference? Most people who buy jogging shoes actually buy them for athletic activities, while most court shoes are worn by fashion-conscious couch potatoes. Serious joggers tend to be informed consumers who aren't swayed by expensive TV campaigns.

Google "Made In USA" with "shoes" & you'll see that a lot of companies do quite well making shoes in the USA. In particular, safety footwear tends to be made domestically. Admittedly, they are heavier & more expensive to ship, but a lot of people who wear work boots are unionized workers who demand "Made In USA".

I was going to say the same thing. I never wear Nike or their ilk when running. NB all the way. Light, inexpensive, fit my orthotics, and made in the US of A.

Besides, Nike's look atrocious and feel like lead weights with all that tack on bling weighing them down.