Socket compare - Wright, Williams, Craftsman x2

[Keep]

Since I cannot link the site here due to a filter, I will copy/paste the thread. Now this is not an end all be all thread, this is just me snapping some pics showing some differences.

****

Alright I seem to remember reading a complaint that no one ever compares/shows "good" sockets. Well I guess I can give it a go. So here we go.

I have two sets here, 1/2 drive 1 inch deep sockets in Wright, US Craftsman, TW Craftsman, and a 3/8 Williams 1 inch for good measure. Then I have 3/8 drive 5/8 deep sockets, in Williams, US Craftsman, TW Craftsman.

First up the 1/2 drive sockets:

First up the Wright - everything about this socket is nice, chrome, stampings, detents, etc. As you can see its a full depth socket.

Next up is the US Craftsman. Overall its a nice socket, the stamping is a bit lite and harder to read then the others and the chrome seems a little thinner if that's the right word for it. I also has the sharpest edges of the bunch.

As you can see here, its not a full depth socket, but it does leave plenty of room for a bolt.

This seems to be the detent style everyone hates?

Next up is the TW Craftsman, as Craftsman in Canada are made in Taiwan (as far as I can tell). Overall a very nice socket with a couple of issues. Chrome is nice, broaching is nice, BUT it has a small hole inside for bolt clearance so it will cause some issues on some bolts (see below). It has softer edges all around.

Here is the downside, that smaller hole there will not allow a 1/2 bolt through let alone one that a 1 inch nut fits, it may not be a huge issue but you lose about 1/4 inch of length due to it.

Detents are normal:

Last we have a 3/8 Williams, 1 inch socket, I had it on hand so why not. Very nice socket. Overall on par with the Wright.

Not a full depth socket:

Detents:

Any of these sockets will do the job asked. As you can see my 1 inch sockets do not get much use, well that and the Wright and Williams are brand new Christmas gifts

Okay lets give the 3/8 drive sockets a go, I have a brand new Williams, a TW Craftsman thats about 2 years old, and a US Craftsman I have had since around 1988.

First up Williams, again a very nice socket, as it should be for the price, it is the shortest of the 3:

It has the shallowest broach of them all:

Nice detents and chrome throughout:

Next up is the US Craftsman, this one has some miles on it but has handled anything I have thrown at it through engine builds/teardowns to some "lite" impact work when required.

The chrome is a bit worn and off color, which I think was pretty common for these years. Stamping is lite, making it harder to read if there is any dirt/grease.

Full depth:

Normal detents:

Last up is the TW Craftsman: Nice quality, good chrome, though it is showing a bit of rust in the drive end. Nice stamping, again has the soft edges all the TW craftsman seem to have.

Mid depth, you cannot see it but this also has a smaller hole inside that will cause the same bolt interference issues as the 1/2.

Detents are normal, showing a bit of rust:

Thats all I have. I am sure I could have done a more in depth comparison with calipers, and measuring and of course the "I yanked on it real hard" test, but dammit its -20 in the garage, you are luckily I took the pics!!

 

[Vinko]

I just got a Wright socket in from McMaster -- 1-3/8ths for about $15 or so. It's a hell of a nice socket. The chrome is really good too. I think I'm going to have to get a few more of the larger sizes.

Now, what to do for a rail for the largers sizes 1" and up......

 

[njride]

thanks, I just upgraded all my ratchets to SO, US made armstrong and proto. Sockets and extensions are next. Currently I have craftsmen from a large set I bought around 1999.

What do you guys think for US made sockets, extensions and swivel sockets? I'm leaning toward wright or williams new or even used snap on, although I'd prefer new. Armstrong is a possibility as well, although i'm not quite sure if they differ from the craftsman aside from finish. Also can anyone elaborate a little bit on the detents and the issue with those and what is the best?

Thanks for the great pics and review.

 

[BajaBound]

I have williams supercombos and all the 1/2 inch extensions that match the blue point 3/8's and 1/4 set that I own. I have craftsman 1/2 sockets and they are very well made.

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

I just got a Wright socket in from McMaster -- 1-3/8ths for about $15 or so. It's a hell of a nice socket. The chrome is really good too. I think I'm going to have to get a few more of the larger sizes.

Now, what to do for a rail for the largers sizes 1" and up......

I've got sheetmetal trays that a friend made for all of my sockets over 1" - the rails just don't cut it.

 

[TWX]

Between buying new and buying used I have several generations of Craftsman sockets, and unfortunately the deep sockets are inconsistent when it comes to the depth of the tooling. Some have been full depth, some are half, some are less than half. I suspect that it's simply a matter of different manufacturers contracted to doing the job having different ideas about it, changing it from generation to generation.

So far I haven't run into any situations where it's given me problems.

 

[blarf]

thanks, I just upgraded all my ratchets to SO, US made armstrong and proto. Sockets and extensions are next. Currently I have craftsmen from a large set I bought around 1999.

What do you guys think for US made sockets, extensions and swivel sockets? I'm leaning toward wright or williams new or even used snap on, although I'd prefer new. Armstrong is a possibility as well, although i'm not quite sure if they differ from the craftsman aside from finish. Also can anyone elaborate a little bit on the detents and the issue with those and what is the best?

Thanks for the great pics and review.

Take a look at what I posted here:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1885639&postcount=68

Danaher definitely sockets with different degrees of quality... but I expect that anything from the past couple of years will be ****. Even the older stuff isn't particularly impressive.

I do like my S-K sockets, they're closer to SO than Danaher. Their deep sockets have very shallow broaching, however.

 

[Vinko]

tArmstrong is a possibility as well, although i'm not quite sure if they differ from the craftsman aside from finish.

I'm not sure that I believe some who've said that Crafty=Armstrong just because they share a parent co. But I guess that's a longer convo. There was a guy from Armstrong on here, briefly, a few years ago.


I bought some Snappy extensions new. A set each of 1/4 and 3/8. They're nice. I don't know if the price is really justified, but I wanted to treat myself. I've got older 1/2" Williams and Proto and Armstrong universals and wobbles and can't say anything negative really. They're good tools. I don't use them enough to really have formed an opinion on the differences.

 

[HandyManny]

Im willing to bet the farm that the Taiwan made Craftsman is much better in all aspects than any of the current USA Danaher made Craftsman sockets.

 

[larryq]

Is there a reason why a manufacturer wouldn't do full-depth on these in all instances? Is there a reason for the shorter broaching? Is it a cost-saving measure?

 

[HandyManny]

Don't know why, but I've noticed that most newer USA made Cman deep sockets are a tad bit longer than other brands out there. Not sure why, not sure it's all that important. If clearance is an issue you wouldn't be using deep sockets anyway, normally.

 

[kc-steve]

Im willing to bet the farm that the Taiwan made Craftsman is much better in all aspects than any of the current USA Danaher made Craftsman sockets.

It might be true in the materials and production, but sorry to disagree that it is true in "all aspects," one socket helps employ an American worker, the other increases our trade imbalance.


Steve

 

[blarf]

It might be true in the materials and production, but sorry to disagree that it is true in "all aspects," one socket helps employ an American worker, the other increases our trade imbalance.


Steve

Yah but given Danaher's push to lower paying (American) factories, how much are Craftsman sockets helping an American worker? If they're paying Walmart wages, that's hurting more than it's helping.

 

[kc-steve]

Yah but given Danaher's push to lower paying (American) factories, how much are Craftsman sockets helping an American worker? If they're paying Walmart wages, that's hurting more than it's helping.

I'm not promoting American made Craftsman stuff as much as I'm putting down buying an overseas tool. Craftsman really needs to realize their competition isn't Harbor Freight, it is Amercian made tool companies, and that's the way it should be marketed.

Steve

 

[blarf]

I'm not promoting American made Craftsman stuff as much as I'm putting down buying an overseas tool. Craftsman really needs to realize their competition isn't Harbor Freight, it is Amercian made tool companies, and that's the way it should be marketed.

The sliver of chrome in my thumb from the new CMan sockets agrees. Sears isn't competing with Harbor Freight, they're competing with the **** you find in the dollar bin at your local hardware stores.

My original point was that if they're not paying a living wage for skilled labor Sears/Danaher/Cooper/APEX aren't really helping anyone. At least in China factory jobs are still going to come with above average pay.

 

[kc-steve]

The sliver of chrome in my thumb from the new CMan sockets agrees. Sears isn't competing with Harbor Freight, they're competing with the **** you find in the dollar bin at your local hardware stores.

My original point was that if they're not paying a living wage for skilled labor Sears/Danaher/Cooper/APEX aren't really helping anyone. At least in China factory jobs are still going to come with above average pay.

And MY original point was it is better to buy from an American tool maker than a relatively equal quality tool from overseas. That doesn't necessarily mean Craftsman, . . . but maybe you are looking for an argument.

Steve

 

[blarf]

And MY original point was it is better to buy from an American tool maker than a relatively equal quality tool from overseas. That doesn't necessarily mean Craftsman, . . . but maybe you are looking for an argument.

Not looking for an argument at all. But to say that Craftsman (which is increasingly becoming PRC sourced stuff anyhow) is helping the American worker is a bit of a stretch when Danaher is creating near minimum wage jobs instead of middle class manufacturing jobs.

I'm sure all the right-leaning folks will jump down my throat for this one, but Barbara Ehrenreich made a great point. When she did her try to survive by working at Walmart for a bit stunt, she figured something out. Rent, transit, food, etc came out to more than she was making from Walmart. Sure, it was a perfect storm but the jobs that Danaher is "creating" aren't the middle class manufacturing jobs of forty years ago.

So, yeah, buy American (or at least from a country with similar environmental and labor protections). I certainly try to. But don't kid yourself that the $2 sockets or the buck and a quarter wrenches from Sears are going to leave enough extra money to pay someone a decent wage.

 

[kc-steve]

Not looking for an argument at all. But to say that Craftsman (which is increasingly becoming PRC sourced stuff anyhow) is helping the American worker is a bit of a stretch when Danaher is creating near minimum wage jobs instead of middle class manufacturing jobs. . . .
. . . So, yeah, buy American (or at least from a country with similar environmental and labor protections). I certainly try to. But don't kid yourself that the $2 sockets or the buck and a quarter wrenches from Sears are going to leave enough extra money to pay someone a decent wage.

No, you aren't looking for an argument, you are begging for it.

I suspect those Danaher employees you mentioned might take issue with you about buying overseas tools and placing their jobs in jeopardy. Yup, let's all add a couple more million to the unemployment ranks . . . because they aren't paid enough.

Steve

 

[HandyManny]

It might be true in the materials and production, but sorry to disagree that it is true in "all aspects," one socket helps employ an American worker, the other increases our trade imbalance.


Steve

They are better in "all aspects".

I'm all for supporting American manufacturing, but not for free and not indiscriminantly. Americans need to get back that idea that respect, reputation, trust, and business is something that is earned.

What if that American worker isn't taking his job very seriously? What if that American worker simply does not give a damn? What if because of that slack he/she is the reason we have poor quality these days to begin with? Do we support that? Is that how we do things these days, by encouraging and supporting mediocrety? If we are going to bash the products of 3rd world nations then we better make damn sure our stuff is way better. That's just how I see it. I'd rather support productive Americans rather than slackers.

If I had cancer in my body I wouldn't feed it or support it's growth. I'd do my best isolate it, cut it off, and rid it as best I could. But that's just me. I tend to run my affairs a bit different that todays generation. But I guess that's a whole other topic.

 

[blarf]

I suspect those Danaher employees you mentioned might take issue with you about buying overseas tools and placing their jobs in jeopardy. Yup, let's all add a couple more million to the unemployment ranks . . . because they aren't paid enough.

What about the Danaher employees at the profitable Mass. plant that got axed in favor of lower-paid employees in Arkansas and Texas?

The point I was making with the Ehrenreich reference was that working for Walmart actually cost her money. She would have lost less money by staying unemployed (and not on unemployment). These are the kinds of jobs that Danaher is creating, not particularly beneficial jobs.

 

[njride]

What if that American worker isn't taking his job very seriously? What if that American worker simply does not give a damn? What if because of that slack he/she is the reason we have poor quality these days to begin with? Do we support that? Is that how we do things these days, by encouraging and supporting mediocrety? If we are going to bash the products of 3rd world nations then we better make damn sure our stuff is way better. That's just how I see it. I'd rather support productive Americans rather than slackers.

If I had cancer in my body I wouldn't feed it or support it's growth. I'd do my best isolate it, cut it off, and rid it as best I could. But that's just me. I tend to run my affairs a bit different that todays generation. But I guess that's a whole other topic.

Our stuff is way better than china **** when its not built to a price point to appease horrible freight shoppers. If craftsmans US tools go downhill it doesn't have anything to do with the workers in the factory, you think they are calling the shots on acceptable quality of the tools?

 

[blarf]

I tend to run my affairs a bit different that todays generation. But I guess that's a whole other topic.

Don't forget that today's companies are run differently too. There is no job security, but there is, apparently, some expectation of French Laundry quality for McDonald's wages. Kinda hard, IMO, to blame the worker completely when management is letting garbage out the door at the end of the day.

 

[HandyManny]

Our stuff is way better than china **** when its not built to a price point to appease horrible freight shoppers. If craftsmans US tools go downhill it doesn't have anything to do with the workers in the factory, you think they are calling the shots on acceptable quality of the tools?

Everybody working anywhere is responsible for quality to some degree. It doesn't matter what job you are doing. I think Danaher could do way better in all aspects that what they are currently doing with the Cman sockets.

And 20 years ago i agree with you about the Chinese made stuff. But not these days, not across the board anyway.

 

[njride]

What about the Danaher employees at the profitable Mass. plant that got axed in favor of lower-paid employees in Arkansas and Texas?

The point I was making with the Ehrenreich reference was that working for Walmart actually cost her money. She would have lost less money by staying unemployed (and not on unemployment). These are the kinds of jobs that Danaher is creating, not particularly beneficial jobs.

They are creating other skilled jobs in the factory, contrary to what you may think its not just a bunch of dummies putting sockets in a box. There are electricians, hvac, plumbers, carpenters, pipefitters,etc to build the factories. Then there is the all the maintenence electricians, machinists etc to keep the plant running. In 10 yrs when they upgrade or add on theres more jobs.

 

[blarf]

Our stuff is way better than china **** when its not built to a price point to appease horrible freight shoppers. If craftsmans US tools go downhill it doesn't have anything to do with the workers in the factory, you think they are calling the shots on acceptable quality of the tools?

Did you see the pictures of the K-D USA socket I posted? It's leaking gold colored **** all over my socket rail and the broaching for the drive end was super sloppy. I thought K-D was more up market than Craftsman (before it got shipped overseas).

They are creating other skilled jobs in the factory, contrary to what you may think its not just a bunch of dummies putting sockets in a box. There are electricians, hvac, plumbers, carpenters, pipefitters,etc to build the factories. Then there is the all the maintenence electricians, machinists etc to keep the plant running. In 10 yrs when they upgrade or add on theres more jobs.

Point was that they're paying **** for skilled labor (like the people finishing the tools), not that it's a bunch of dummies putting stuff in a box.

 

[pipsters]

Not looking for an argument at all. But to say that Craftsman (which is increasingly becoming PRC sourced stuff anyhow) is helping the American worker is a bit of a stretch when Danaher is creating near minimum wage jobs instead of middle class manufacturing jobs.

I'm sure all the right-leaning folks will jump down my throat for this one, but Barbara Ehrenreich made a great point. When she did her try to survive by working at Walmart for a bit stunt, she figured something out. Rent, transit, food, etc came out to more than she was making from Walmart. Sure, it was a perfect storm but the jobs that Danaher is "creating" aren't the middle class manufacturing jobs of forty years ago.

So, yeah, buy American (or at least from a country with similar environmental and labor protections). I certainly try to. But don't kid yourself that the $2 sockets or the buck and a quarter wrenches from Sears are going to leave enough extra money to pay someone a decent wage.

Danaher production sups make $50k a year and up, where are you getting your information?

No it's not the 6 figures a year the UAW used to pull in but those pay rates were obscene for what they were doing. I'm pro union (and am in a union) but lets get real here.

 

[Roots]

Is there a reason why a manufacturer wouldn't do full-depth on these in all instances? Is there a reason for the shorter broaching? Is it a cost-saving measure?

Manufacturing them to full depth likely requires stronger metal characteristics and greater quality control, than what they're able to get away with by not going full-depth. Cost savings.

 

[HandyManny]

The sliver of chrome in my thumb from the new CMan sockets agrees. Sears isn't competing with Harbor Freight, they're competing with the **** you find in the dollar bin at your local hardware stores.

Sadly, based on what I've seen from Sears and Cman over the last 5 to 7 years I have to agree 100%. At least as far as Cman ratchets, sockets, and extentions go. There are still and handful of newer Cman tools still worth buying though.

Make no mistake though, there is a reason why Craftsman has or had an excellent reputation. A reputation that was earned and respected by a few generations of Americans and for good reason. There was a time when Craftsman offered reasonably priced prefessional grade tools across the line. Most of which were made by high quality domestic tool makers. Unfortunately those good old days for Cman are slowly coming to a close. In general it's just not the tool it once was.

 

[blarf]

Danaher production sups make $50k a year and up, where are you getting your information?

No it's not the 6 figures a year the UAW used to pull in but those pay rates were obscene for what they were doing. I'm pro union (and am in a union) but lets get real here.

In-n-Out assistant managers start around that much. Cost of living is probably much higher in the metro areas, but not necessarily the burbs. So, no, $50k doesn't seem like a whole lot for overseeing skilled labor (but seems about right for letting utter **** come out of your factory on a fairly regular basis).

How much do the people actually making the tools earn? $30k? $40k? $30,000/yr is a lot closer to Walmart type wages... Glassdoor.com is showing wages of $12-$13/hr for "operators", about $45k/yr for IT support folks, and about $150k/yr for product managers.

Around here, and yeah cost of living is insane, minimum wage is $10.24/hr (state is set at $8/hr right now). Nearby San Leandro is set at $13.54 for city *contractors* with more than six employees.

 

[HandyManny]

I'm not promoting American made Craftsman stuff as much as I'm putting down buying an overseas tool. Craftsman really needs to realize their competition isn't Harbor Freight, it is Amercian made tool companies, and that's the way it should be marketed.

Steve

Do you really believe that??

Oh, there competition is very much harbor freight and in this match it's harbor freight who's winning.

What other American tool maker is Cman competing with? Certainly not Snap-On, MATCO, Wright, MAC, or Proto. Not even SK, anymore.

 

[kc-steve]

They are better in "all aspects".

I'm all for supporting American manufacturing, but not for free and not indiscriminantly. Americans need to get back that idea that respect, reputation, trust, and business is something that is earned.

For the most part, I agree with all your "what ifs." But we will never regain "respect" as long as we owe 15 trillion dollars of debt and about half of it to China.

It's a catch-22 situation. We have to reduce our trade deficit first, then think about quality of our own products, but too many people will still buy overseas anyway. There doesn't seem to be a way out it without going through a disastrous economy (worse than currently) resulting from it all. Just my 2-cents.

Steve

 

[HandyManny]

Don't forget that today's companies are run differently too. There is no job security, but there is, apparently, some expectation of French Laundry quality for McDonald's wages. Kinda hard, IMO, to blame the worker completely when management is letting garbage out the door at the end of the day.

Management is part of the American work force, right?. Nobody is just blaming the workers who have their hands working the forge or machining parts all day. It's Americans these days across the board, especially the damn share holders. It's like I said - everybody is responsible for quality of the work they perform and how their decisions impact our domestically made products. You have the freedom to do a good job right?

 

[blarf]

Management is part of the American work force, right?. Nobody is just blaming the workers who have their hands working the forge or machining parts all day. It's Americans these days across the board, especially the damn share holders.

Management *is* part of the workforce, sure. My guess is that most of that management (except for the handful at the plants themselves) will still be at Danaher even if production gets moved to the PRC. That $150k/yr product manager probably gets a bonus for keeping costs down by moving production overseas.

 

[HandyManny]

Management *is* part of the workforce, sure. My guess is that most of that management (except for the handful at the plants themselves) will still be at Danaher even if production gets moved to the PRC. That $150k/yr product manager probably gets a bonus for keeping costs down by moving production overseas.

Then we wonder why the gap is widening between the middle class and upper class, with the middle class diminishing as time goes on. We're screwing ourselves really. But anyway, back to original topic. Sorry to get off topic here.

 

[pipsters]

In-n-Out assistant managers start around that much. Cost of living is probably much higher in the metro areas, but not necessarily the burbs. So, no, $50k doesn't seem like a whole lot for overseeing skilled labor (but seems about right for letting utter **** come out of your factory on a fairly regular basis).

How much do the people actually making the tools earn? $30k? $40k? $30,000/yr is a lot closer to Walmart type wages... Glassdoor.com is showing wages of $12-$13/hr for "operators", about $45k/yr for IT support folks, and about $150k/yr for product managers.

Around here, and yeah cost of living is insane, minimum wage is $10.24/hr (state is set at $8/hr right now). Nearby San Leandro is set at $13.54 for city *contractors* with more than six employees.

The factory is in Gastonia, NC a rural part of NC west of Charlotte. Wal-Mart employees make $15k a year. I "survived" on $30k a year nicely. This isn't CA. NC is very cheap to live in (been here 3.5 years).

The only issue I have had with the Craftsman sockets is a few were finished badly. The actual sockets are of good quality and hold up fine, even to my impact use. I agree Danaher needs to work on its quality control but unfortunately Sears is probably pushing them to be cheaper and cheaper. Danaher makes Gearwrench which are finished beautifully so it's not like they can't do it.

I love the laser etching as well. The ratchets and extensions are top notch, never had an issue. Not sure where people are getting all this **** but it's certainly not from Sears.

 

[blarf]

The only issue I have had with the Craftsman sockets is a few were finished badly. The actual sockets are of good quality and hold up fine, even to my impact use. I agree Danaher needs to work on its quality control but unfortunately Sears is probably pushing them to be cheaper and cheaper. Danaher makes Gearwrench which are finished beautifully so it's not like they can't do it.

BTW, my K-D sockets are yellowing on the inside and leaving a mess over my USA made Craftsman/VIM socket rails. Upon closer inspection the broaching is still fairly sloppy compared to my bankruptcy-era S-K sockets. My understanding was that K-D (before they were rolled into GearWrench) was a step up from Craftsman. My older Craftsman sockets are yellowing on the inside too but haven't left drippings on my rails.

I bought four of the 3/8" sets at ACE the other day. Two for me, two for two different friends. Already sold the one set to a friend w/o looking at it. With the remaining three sets: so far I've had one chrome sliver in my thumb, five sockets with cracked or peeling chrome, two with rust, two with really sloppy drive end broaching, and three with paint flaws (contamination under the paint, missing in the corners, paint just rotting off the inside). That's, what? One in three sockets that looks like it was inspected by Hellen Keller.

How well will they hold up if they're already rusty out of the box? The older C-Man stuff looks much better. The only other sockets I have that are rusting are Hazet junk (but that's another rant).

Sears is to blame for accepting it, but Danaher is to blame for even getting to this point in the first place.

 

[HandyManny]

BTW, my K-D sockets are yellowing on the inside and leaving a mess over my USA made Craftsman/VIM socket rails. Upon closer inspection the broaching is still fairly sloppy compared to my bankruptcy-era S-K sockets. My understanding was that K-D (they were rolled into GearWrench) was a step up from Craftsman. My older Craftsman sockets are yellowing on the inside too but haven't left drippings on my rails.

I bought four of the 3/8" sets at ACE the other day. Two for me, two for two different friends. Already sold the one set to a friend w/o looking at it. With the remaining three sets: so far I've had one chrome sliver in my thumb, five sockets with cracked or peeling chrome, two with rust, two with really sloppy drive end broaching, and three with paint flaws (contamination under the paint, missing in the corners, paint just rotting off the inside). That's, what? One in three sockets that looks like it was inspected by Hellen Keller.

How well will they hold up if they're already rusty out of the box? The older C-Man stuff looks much better. The only other sockets I have that are rusting are Hazet junk (but that's another rant).

Sears is to blame for accepting it, but Danaher is to blame for even getting to this point in the first place.

K-D used to make and offer pretty okay tools at one time, that was before Danaher acquired them. I have quite a few older items from K-D that served me well over the years, all USA made stuff too. I don't believe K-D was set up from Craftsman, didn't really have anything much to do with Cman except they made some various tools for the Cman line over the years. K-D also supplied NAPA for years (still does) with some tools. I wouldn't say that K-D was ever the best tools, but they were basic common automotive tool brand that many auto parts store carried back in the day.

 

[Vinko]

I'm sure all the right-leaning folks will jump down my throat for this one, but Barbara Ehrenreich made a great point. When she did her try to survive by working at Walmart for a bit stunt, she figured something out. Rent, transit, food, etc came out to more than she was making from Walmart. Sure, it was a perfect storm but the jobs that Danaher is "creating" aren't the middle class manufacturing jobs of forty years ago.

I've read a bit of Ehrenreich over the past few years. I dipped into Nickel and Dimed but haven't read through it. I think she's done some really important work in reminding us that too many American workers are just a paycheck or two away from being in serious trouble, incl. being homeless, going without food, medical attention, etc.

Her book on the "Wellness" industry -- and its insistence that terminally ill "smile" is great.

But don't kid yourself that the $2 sockets or the buck and a quarter wrenches from Sears are going to leave enough extra money to pay someone a decent wage.

+1

 

[FlushingDIYer]

Not trying to bump up an old thread. But man, the photographic evidence comparing Wright to US CM and to TW CM is pretty useful. Damn those Wrights are sweet!