William McKinley on Merchandise Measuring Men
on Monday, February 25, 2013William McKinley Money Quotation saying quality of merchandise can be a measure of a country and of it’s citizens. William McKinley said:
“Cheap merchandise means cheap men and cheap men mean a cheap country” — William McKinley
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This quote is referring to the relationship between the quality of a country’s goods/merchandise and the quality of its workforce/citizens. William McKinley is suggesting that if a country primarily produces and sells “cheap merchandise” – low quality, low cost goods – then it will tend to have a workforce composed of “cheap men” – meaning workers with few skills who can only command low wages.
In turn, a country with a large number of low-skilled, low-paid workers will struggle to become prosperous and advanced. So the quote views cheaply-made exports as a sign of underlying weaknesses that will hold a nation back from achieving its full economic potential.
It implies countries should focus on producing higher quality, higher value goods in order to develop a highly skilled labor force and a robust economy overall.
Birthday: January 29, 1843 – Death: September 14, 1901