[nomadh]

The other side of this is: We get great stuff , like guitars, and we give them worthless paper. What a bunch of suckers.

What you are saying is true and what I'm saying will become true. If we keep treating our economy like a never ending magic well our money will become worthless and we will become a 3rd world nation. Believing that it can't happen is the guaranteed way to make it happen.
Also a lot of the cost of an american product is regulatory cost. EPA, workers beni's, paperwork compliance. Maybe we just need to say that if these things are important then they are important for any product we buy. If we buy a guitar the mfg needs to pay min wage, follow our hiring guidlines and pollution laws. Oh and then pay to prove they followed them. We will be exporting epa workers to countries importing to us.
That would be the end of my $100 guitar collecting days.
Bet that would level the playing field