The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II. But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America. Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally outproduce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America does into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So what happens when the debt bubble pops?
The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America’s largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?
How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?
The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.
If you disagree with this article, I have a direct challenge for you. If anyone can explain how a deindustrialized America has any kind of viable economic future, please do so below in the comments section.
America is in deep, deep trouble folks. It is time to wake up.
All these cited “facts” are just facts. When “Americans” is used in generalizations there is no finger to point to who, what or how…Even if these facts are all true, they still do not express the spirit of Americans. Each individual fights their battle everyday, with little or no help from anyone…or recognition. We have been boycotting for years to buy American. Our government is Fascist…And we can only change things by changing that…We want to live in peace…BUT and that’s a big BUTT, Americans need to start kicking some ass. Did you know that only one person was ever hanged, for anything done during the Civil War. That was the Warden of Andersonville, who shot and murdered my GGGGrandfather Philander P. Warriner, while being held POW. I think that thwe Americans of today need to start paying attention to who, what and why. Yesterday I learned that the FBI in trying to profile Serial Murderers, found that CEOs share the exact same traits. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!
Hey, relax guys the recession is over.
You know, every country is being told that all it has to do is lower its currency value compared to other countries and it will export its way to prosperity. Hey, every country can’t do that! The supposed solution shows the bankruptcy of the whole mess. The only solution is tariff barriers. Make it yourself in your own country. America has the resources and manpower to do it. Sure we are talking trade wars, but out of the mess will come a country ready to rock and roll.
If the United States is going to continue as a great nation then we are going to have to get out of NAFTA and go back to a Tariff to protect the home industries from foreign low cost labor for those manufactured goods and services that we are buying.
But, that only part of the problem, we are also going to have to impeach this President, cancel those bail out to those big banks and to those Wall Street thugs that have gotten over 26 trillions of dollars of tax payers money. A Glass Segal re-enactment Act to separate real dept from those gambling dept that that Wall Street and those big banks generated or those derivatives which do not conform to a Glass Segal standard will be wiped off the books as unplayable or worthless paper dept or gambling dept that will not be paid by the US Government.
This will stop the hemorrhage of the US Economy, but it won’t repair the damage that has already been done to the US Economy. We need the US Government to implement a four rivers project like what FDR did, but on a much larger scale to rebuild the US Economy. Those four target rivers were the Columbia, Colorado, St. Lowrance and the Tennessee River project. The current project that is being billed as the TVA or the Tennessee Valley Authority of the 21st Century it NAWAPA or the North American Water And Power Agreement. Basically what is does is bring 10% to 15% of the Yukon and Mackenzie River down the Rocky Mountain trench to water the Western have of Canada and the United States which is mostly desert lands and such. This artificial river will have two to three times the average flow of the Mississippi River. To accomplish a project this big we will need hundreds of nuclear power plants and rebuild the rail roads of the United States to do it and maybe even have to national project of building an entire levitated rail system throughout the whole United States.
It not good enough to say that we been screwed, because that doesn’t help us, but we need real plan for getting out of this mess. For more information about NAWAPA and why it is the only legitimate plan for undoing this mess we are in. Go to this Web site for more information.
http://www.larouchepac.com/
Larry Moore
The problem sure does glare one in the face here. Millions of fat stupid cry babies begging for a master to serve. Do slaves have a right to a master? Forget a job, I want my own business. Baker, butcher whatever. People today sacrifice their dignity for a weekly paycheck because they dont want to think to hard. I have no sympathy here. Their combined ignorance is a greater enemy than any other America has ever faced. This is a purge to get rid of the greasy meat bags choking up the place.
Three key phrases every American should learn, to enhance their future job prospects:
1) “Welcome to…. (Walmart, Home Depot, Kmart, Kroger, Winn Dixie, etc)”
2) “Any ice or stamps today?”
3) “Would you like fries with that?”
Why cant they just send Walmart overseas, with its army of sell outs and we can have a small town America again?
A country without a strong manufacturing base will fall like a house of cards. While this article mentions dates no later than 2001, it was in the 1980′s when we, as a family, knew things weren’t looking good. The tool and die industry was hemorrhaging first to Portugal, then to China. I sorry to inform one poster that this trade took fourteen years to learn; it wasn’t a quick learn by any means. They also weren’t making “crap.” While it is politically correct to bash plastic, it was plastic that drove the engine of affordable goods to the consumer. It also helped the health industry, and of course the patient, to use disposables rather than autoclave everything, but I digress.
One need not worry about the tool an die industry making a comeback. CNC machines have replaced the high skill tool and die maker with a lesser skilled machinist. They may have the lesser skill than the tool and die maker, but they are still skilled. One person knowledgeable in programming, usually a college grad, programs the machines.
The machines make a better product quicker, but at great cost. The era of the small shop owner is over. It was the small shop owner who employed most of America and the tool shop was no different. Who makes the steel for the “tool?” (tool: mold to make plastic part such as the keyboard that is before you.) It isn’t Bethlehem Steel that currently has two casinos in its place instead. Who makes the computer parts for the CNC machine? It isn’t here in the US.
If the tool and die industry had remained in the US, and we did not have our industries/small businesses gutted by the “greater profit” overseas and the punitive government rules, laws, and costs, it probably would have made it. We have lost much more than manufacturing jobs. It was those jobs that made our country strong and independent.
If as happened a tiny ethnic minority with nazi principles gains control of government as they have,goodbye Amerika.No not talking about Germans.
STOP VOTING. NOW!!!
STOP PAYING TAXES. NOW!!!
THERE ARE NO POLITICAL SOLUTIONS FOR THIS MESS.
Politic: poli = “many” tic is “a blood sucker”
STOP PAYING ALL FORMS OF TAX!
STOP PAYING INCOME TAX!
STOP PAYING PROPERTY TAX.
Stop getting a license to get married, drive, play, fish, hunt, traffic tickets and work these are all a form of taxes.
Your tax dollars are used to feed the beast that is consuming you and everyone else.
If we all STOPPED VOTING and all STOPPED PAYING TAXES it would be over by May of next year.
Love, Pease and Liberty to all people every where.
Wayne (above) is right. Tariffs are the answer. Huge ones. Along with other common sense pro-industrial policies – e.g. government-guaranteed bank loans to industrial borrowers on the same terms as “refugees” now get them from the INS when they show up here, or at least on the same terms as non-whites, women and “transgendered” now get them from the SBA. Plus cancelling the income tax and nationalizing the Fed and confiscating the estates of its owners.
It is a symptom of hysteria and the collapse of reason that so many seem to find solace scab-picking over the current economic difficulty.
Can any amount of evidence or appeal to self-interest quell this shrieking parade of half-wits finding solace in mutual misery?
It’s bad, oh, it’s very bad! Yes, it is, it is very very bad!
Message received, get on with it. If a planet-killing meteor was revealed to be nearing earth impact could the squealing be any louder?
There is such a thing as calm in the face of adversity and self-fulfilling prophecy.
Perhaps this will demonstrate my point. Slap! Now the other cheek. Slap! Again for good measure. Slap! Slap!
Proceed.
Looking outward, the almost exponential (?) world population growth, depletion of natural resources,
weather changes, potential world: famine, financial collapse, and war ; a logical conclusion is depletion: of population, job skills, and materials, may result in a downward standard of living, returning to the need to relearn the skill sets of the times of the beginning of the US. Whew, that was a mouthful. Will this be an improvement? That is possible, depending on the morality of the survivors.
We are addressing time, which is really change of a Quantum reality called now. These are the current projections of (my?) perception. They portray the duality and the inherent imbalances thereof …. and the possible direction of the current manifestation of destiny. As duality or opposites agree, so to does a duality of null cease to happen as now or even then.
A balance of positive and negative duality eliminates the manifestations outlined above and based on a duality of good/evil, the outcome favors improvement.
Actually improvement depends on which side of a specific duality one chooses to believe in.
What one thinks is one’s reality, good or bad … a duality too.
Balance is an end of strife and discordance; in-harmony.
Looking from my side of duality, this is improvement.
What one thinks (thoughts), words, then deeds (actions) when combined with others of like mind increase in magnitude. Thoughts focused with strong emotion have much more force and energy.
Many have heard and experienced “Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it!” .
Was it Lau Tzu that said exciting times?
Conclusion:
Ending of duality or opposites is accomplished by balance.
Balance is an end of opposites, discordance; an in-harmony condition.
Achieving balance is indeed improvement; although the process of change can be “disturbing”.
Thank you for brightening up my day.You bloody deserve all you get.
NOT a word did the author mention of these things and why did not the author mention them? These are:
1a. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tarrifs) and the WTO (World Trade Organization).
1b. Go after the Chambers of Commerce and Commonwealths across this nation as well as hitting the politicians (BOTH PARTIES) and the Prez and the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR—Be aware though that HILDA SOLIS is a Major, major supporter of ILLEGAL ALIENS. She should be fired on account of that!
Q: How can any of these people blather (including JOHN BOEHNER and the Ruplicans) on about jobs when they NEVER mention: NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT and the WTO?
2. ALL businesses must lose their tax breaks if they: Outsource, offshore and hire VISA WORKERS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS.
3. All Visa workers and Illegal Aliens must go home!
4. All businesses must be forced to use E-VERIFY and be heavily penalized if they are caught with ILLEGAL ALIEN employees. (Just look at any fast-food restaurant, restaurants, hotels, construction, gardening and maintenance for starters). Look at HOME DEPOT (with their Spanish signs in their stores) and Day Laborers hanging around.
5. Place an immigration Moratorium and end the GREEN CARDS.
Q: How is it we already have so many LEGAL CITIZENS who are either unemployed or underemployed and yet the businesses still demand more immigrants?
A: Businesses are greedy and want to drive down wages.
6. END CORPORATE PERSONHOOD LAW–This is essential!
What I personally do, is I constantly write the politicians, prez, etc and alert other people what’s going on (ever since the BUSH-KERRY run-off).
I intentionally go into a store and read the labels, saying very loudly, (“MADE IN CHINA, INDIA, SRI LANKA, VIETNAM, MEXICO, HONDURAS, CANADA, etc) when people are walking by–unfortunately, they either ignore me or think I’m crazy. I’ve also pointed this out to various sales people (usually young who also just roll their eyes)and I’ve tried contacting store management and email sites.
I also try to buy (MADE IN USA) whenever possible…That’s becoming more difficult every day.
POINTS: WE ALL HAVE TO GET BUSY and stop watching all those video games, sports and whatever distraction is being served and contact all these people and when you are going to buy something, look at the labels.
FINALLY: This deindustrialization is ENTIRELY BY DELIBERATE DESIGN.
To be part of the NWO (NEW WORLD ORDER) aka 1-WORLD ORDER, the U.S.A. must be reduced down to 3rd-World-Status.
Does anybody understand that? The NWO is the reason this is being done to us–Entirely by design!
FIGHT the NWO!
BTW: I’m sick and tired of hearing how fat and lazy Americans are! The description of “fat and lazy” can apply to people in any nation.
Correction: “Republicans.”
I forgot to mention (one person already did, thank you) that the FEDERAL RESERVE needs to be abolished, these BANKSTERS punished and GLASS-STEAGALL must be reinstated!
It’s mind boggling to me how the majority of BOTH political parties signed these BANKSTER BAILOUTS twice (without reading the bills-loaded with earmarks), (JOHN BOEHNER included) and these Banksters were rewarded with lavish bonuses for DELIBERATELY creating the Housing Bubble and their Derivatives Fiasco.
What makes these Banksters so special? They should be in jail with MADOFF.
BTW: Most of (BOTH PARTIES) serve the NWO (New World Order) aka 1-World Order: Run by the Banksters, particularly the (ROTHSCHILDS and ROCKEFELLERS)and corrupt, globalist-minded corporations.
Many of BOTH PARTIES belong to groups like the: CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), the Trilateral Commission), the Skull-Bones Society, AIPAC, Freemasonry and attend events-meetings like the Bohemian Club and the Bilderbergs.
Didn’t the majority of BOTH PARTIES make it crystal clear they do NOT represent us by:
1a. Did either party do anything to secure our borders and enforce our IMMIGRATION LAWS and cutting off ALL employment and social, medical, educational, lawyer, housing, etc services to ILLEGAL ALIENS?????
1b. Don’t they repeatedly allow ILLEGAL ALIENS to march throughout our streets across the entire nation and look the other way?
1c. Why do BOTH parties keep allowing endless and relentless AMNESTY PROPOSALS to come up?
1d. Many polticians of BOTH parties support the **NAU (NORTH AMERICAN UNION)**-the plan to merge: Canada, teh US and Mexico together, that’s why!
2. Did either party do anything to end: NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT and the WTO? NO!
Now, I get to hear about how the Republicans “care so much” about jobs, especially that BOEHNER character. It’s just naueasting to watch them, but I guess I’ll contact them next with the same questions.
But I have No intention of voting for people of either party who refuse to represent their own legal citizens. I realize the RIGHT-LEFT Paradigm is completely false and we’re being played against each other, aka the HEGELIAN DIALECT.
This may be true, but it is also irrelevant. The oil age is nearly done, so all this high-intensity manufacturing will end anyhow, no matter where it is. Since 100% of our nitrogen fertilizer is made directly from natural gas, we can also expect the carrying capacity of the planet to be reduced to probably less than 1 billion, within 20 years.
So in this context, the discussion about industrialization seems somewhat… irrelevant.
I’m just over 29 right now. I’ve seen nothing but failure, upon failure, upon failure in the US. By government, by businesses, but mostly by people. When I read Atlas Shrugged in high school, I thought the most unrealistic part of the story was that foolish, unrealistic, worthless people could possibly be able to run everything. And then the last 20 years happened. This country in it’s current form is doomed to fall the same way every empire has before it. Almost all solutions are made irrelevant by the current entrenched power and money structure.
At this point might as well just wait for the next bomb to drop, so to speak. And hope to god you’re not just a silhouette on the side of a building afterwords. Hell, that’s probably the best way ‘out’.
Focus on production. Encourage your state to nullify the federal burdens on business, then start your own. Political entrepreneurs have weighted the US system against innovation and small business, so a business minded person should also prepare to leave. I’m hedging my bets and encouraging and preparing for both.
The insanity of the US tyranny has unfortunately made staying less viable with every passing day. Never root yourself like the serfs of the Middle Ages. Prepare to find freedom wherever it may be, as this is the very concept that made this country. Our spirit, not our government, makes us great!
Leo: I take issue with your opinions on Unions.Not one thing you said about them is true.The transplanted,and imported vehicle manufacturers not having unions don’t have cheaper vehicles than Unionized makers. Unions came about because of abuse heaped on workers.The amount of Americans represented by Unions are at a post-WW2 low.You harp on Unions for this Countries’ problems,yet they have very little power to represent their members’ interests.They talk a good game,reality is different.
Unions today,unlike in the past;are the friend of Management;and the bosses do not want to get rid of them…they are a great benefit in helping to placate workers….a roving group of management helpers….keeping the workers “In line”.Big business NEEDS Unions.
We need to get serious about colonizing The Moon,then Mars and beyond. Industrial Societies need expanding markets to grow and justify their existence. We can disperse our population and pollution problems by moving outward into The Solar System. The adventure!!!
Why do unions insist on supporting Illegal Aliens?
I agree with Joe7000, WW-III is what is next. That’s the only way to distract the people and paper over the financial mess.
Thank you Ronin on AGENDA 21 and Something Wicked this Way Comes and for all those who recognize that the FEDERAL RESERVE is the problem and our deindustrialization is being done by design.
Don’t blame the evil manufacturers! Put the blame where it belongs – on GOVERNMENT.- The united States Government and all the complicit state governments and all the complicit local governments. Business wants to produce the products consumers want at a competitive price: consumers want the products they want at a reasonable price. If GOVERNMENT puts obstacles and costs in the production process, business will find ways to reduce these costs, and one way is to move production offshore. Again, don’t blame business – blame GOVERNMENT. As long as YOU want the cheapest cost for manufactured products, business will find a way to deliver it.
The consequences of government driving the costs of production up are what we are faced with now – deindustrialization. Of course this has been with the complicity of both big business and big labor.
I think it is too late to change as we are past the point of no return economically. The permanently entrenched bureaucracy – from city worker to President – will never relinquish power voluntarily. We can only hope for a rebirth of the foundations of America after the collapse.
In the meantime, I propose restoring the concept of “Tar and Feather” for our illustrious politicians who have run this country into the ground.
The reason our borders are left wide open is because of the NAU (NORTH AMERICAN UNION)-the plan to merge: Canada, the USA and Mexico together.
That’s why absolutely nothing is being done to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders, why Illegal aliens are continually allowed to march through our streets demanding AMNESTY-DREAM ACT, why all services are NOT cut off or all employment of ILLEGALS ended, why retail is allowed to cater to the Spanish-speaking illegal aliens (note the increased Spanish signage in stores, packaging, advertising), etc.
And why we have umpteenth attempts to grant another AMNESTY. Anybody remember the 1986 AMNESTY?
The “SYSTEM IS BROKEN?” Our government, (BOTH PARTIES) refuse to enforce the laws already on the books!
In San Jose, CA, they are displacing the culture. They have NOT funded the U.S.A. INDEPENCE DAY HOLIDAY for 2 years and ended the TAPESTRY AND TALENT EVENT.
Instead, what San Jose did, was make a move to boycott Arizona and had a huge bash for CINCO de MAYO and the MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY in September and now, they have a big Mariachi festival going on. They also cater to other (“multicultural events”).
Just like the EU (European Union), we’re next.
The planet’s nations’ borders are being erased and set up in blocs for the NWO (NEW WORLD ORDER) aka 1-WORLD ORDER.
When the People fear the governmet there is tyranny….when the government fears the People there is liberty.
The US govt. is showing cracks of fear when they start arresting ‘suspected domestic terrorist’ & we are now seeing more of this in America.
WARNING REGARDING PRO-ILLEGAL ALIEN MOVIE: MACHETE
The You Tube trailer has actor, Danny Trejo saying very menacingly, “This is MACHETE with a Cinco de Mayo message for Arizona,” which very conviently came out on May 1st, (the MAY DAY AMNESTY march).
According to the website of Vdare and a couple of others, this movie could have the potential of starting a potential race war and the director plans on making 2 more just like it.
OTHER PRO-ILLEGAL ALIEN GROUPS TO WATCH OUT FOR: La Raza, MEChA, MALDEF, LULAC, La Voz de Aztlan, Mexica Movement and of course our MSM, (Mainstream Media) who insists on calling ILLEGAL ALIENS the, (“Undocumented, Migrants, immigrants, etc), but seldom calls them ILLEGAL ALIENS.
if america is a 14 trillion dollar economy then why are we borrowing or printing 3 trillion a year. there seems to be a massive disconnect goin on.china’s got the cash so can’t blame companies for heading over there.the fastest growing jobs in america are cashiers, home health aides, and janitors, if that’s what a 14 trillion dollar economy looks like,we’re in trouble big time
Ross Perot warned us about this years ago and everyone just laughed at him.
#20 1987 more people worked Government jobs (not helping the GDP because it is TAXES that pay their salaries) than manufacturing. I will never forget that announcement. Also, how does SPENDING account for the P in GDP? Products are not you spending money! Lies and lying are order of the day. Maybe it should be a law that until you try to do your own business you are not allowed a job in this country!
The cause of all this is capitalism itself, in which production is to serve the private profits of the owner pr shareholders.
The answer is socialism (not the welfare-state kind of “socialism”), in which the means of production, distribution and exchange is owned by the working class and production is for social need, not private profit.
To elaborate:-
Many people speak in terms of a productive, industrial capitalism versus a speculative finance capitalism; small-holder (mom and pop) style capitalism providing a huge variety of competitive choices as in a bazaar versus an oligopoly or a monopoly capitalism as in a Wal Mart or a Microsoft; free market capitalism versus regulated capitalism monopolies.
However, what they do not realise is that these different kinds of capitalism are like two sides of a coin, just as us in the flower of our youth are the same person as us in the twilight years of our old age.
In the early days of an industry,such as the auto, entertainment, oil & gas, information technology and other industries, they are very much at the small-holder stage and exist in a free-market ecosystem in which there is intense competition and choice.
In the process of competition, the weaker players drop out, leaving fewer strong, bigger and richer players in the field and this process repeats until there are only a handful of big corporate players left. This state may exist for a very long time but eventually gravitates into a monopoly.
For example, in the 1970s there was Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed which made most commercial airliners in the U.S. and while there were more earlier, however today,only Boeing is left standing.
The information technology is in an oligopoly state now, in which Microsoft dominates by far on desktop PCs, while Apple has a minor share and Linux, a mere sliver.
In the 1980s, while Microsoft MS-DOS was the major operating system on most desktop PCs, there was a huge, competitive market for applications software such as word processors (WordStar, Word Perfect, Multimate, Display Write, PFS Write, Microsoft Word, etc); database (dBase, Foxbase, etc); spreadsheet (VisiCalc, Lotus 123, Quattro Pro, Easy Office, Framework, etc).
However, in the late 80s and early 90s, Microsoft’s OfficeSuite (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint), riding on top of Windows, pushed all of the others into the sidelines and now dominates the desktop PC space.
So what began 30 years ago as a competitive, free-market capitalist ecosystem has now gravitated into what practically is a monopoly capitalist environment – basically, a free-market has gravitated towards a monopoly.
This process has happened with other which came industries before IT and will happen with the emerging industries and to come, and preventing it within the framework of capitalism requires regulation, not the unfettered capitalism; just as dams and levees are required to hold back water, remove them and you have a flood.
Moving on to wages, protectionism and tariff barriers – even without unions demanding higher wages, as the capitalist economy grows and there’s more employment, rising consumer demand for goods and services leads to a rising cost of living, leading in turn to employees needing higher wages just to maintain their living standard in a particular country. This has happened in Asian countries, such as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where prices are much higher than even in the U.S., where these were once low-wage countries.
With protectionism and tariff barriers, the capitalist economic ecosystem can be maintained, where goods are produced in a country to supply markets in the country or neighbouring countries with similar standards of living.
The manufacturers set up factories in other countries to produce goods for those markets, for example For cars made in Britain for the British market and smaller than those made in the U.S. for the American market.
Also, manufacturers have set up assembly plants in poorer countries to supply more affordable cars in those markets.
However, with globalisation and open borders, which came into prominence, especially after the end of the Cold War, these respective “fenced” ecosystems have been upset, which is what has happened in the developed countries of North America, Europe and even Asia, leading to the loss of jobs for workers with an average level of education and now even with high levels of education, to regions where labour costs are lower.
While proponents of globalisation and open borders argue that workers in the more developed countries must re-skill themselves for higher skilled work, how many people either have the capability or the finances to do so. Well the result is there for all to see in countries such as the U.S. and even in countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where the many foreign and domestically owned assembly plants are moving to lower wage countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China.
For example, assembly plant workers in Singapore are being retrained to work in casinos.
So what’s the solution?
Well, the only one within the capitalist framework is to revert back to the protected market environments, especially prior to the 1994 GATT which led to the World Trade Organisation.
However, how long these regulation will last is another questions, just as protective legistation such as the Glass-Steagal Act were overturned by politicians.
The other solution and a permanent one – is to get rid of capitalism altogether and to establish socialism, in which production serves the needs of society, not private profit.
Under socialism, since the facilitie sof production are in the hands of the workers, robotics and automation will not result in unemployment but in workers being able to upgrade themselves to develop, produce and improve upon the machines of production.
At the same time, more people will be able to work in other areas such as healthcare, education and so on to improve upon the overall livelihood of society, where medical care will either be highly affordable or even free.
Workers will also also enjoy more leisure time and much greater security in life.
However, getting there will require a revolution.
Human beings in general but politicians and corporate executives in particular have the most amazing capacity for talking themselves into believing absolutely ridiculous thing when doing so happens to be convenient. If we had a friend who was an abusive alcoholic, we would talk about human psychology. We’d say, “He’s in a lot of denial. How are we going to get him to so some soul searching?”, etc. Meanwhile, the politicians and corporate executives who are screwing the majority of the world’s people and future generations are in deep denial and delusion or perhaps they are sociopaths, pure & simple. And yet, all we can say is, “That politician is sleazy and that corporate executive id greedy.” We have got to bring human psychology into the discussion. And this is in perfect keeping with the old truism that HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS MUST CHANGE for our problems to be solved. Indeed, we may fixate on the behavior of politicians and corporate executives, but this is a broadly human thing. We all do this to some extent. Our species needs to develop an enhanced faculty of discernment. An increased ability to see what’s in front of out eyes – in the hope that we will begin to believe what is true rather than believing what happens to be convenient.
“Global free trade has become a sacred principle of modern economic theory, a sort of generally accepted moral dogma. That is why it is so difficult to persuade politicians and economists to reassess its effects on a world economy which is changing radically.
The ultimate objective of global free trade is to create a worldwide market in products, services, capital and labour. Its instrument to achieve this is GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
I believe that GATT and the theories on which it is based are flawed. If it is implemented, it will impoverish and destabilize the industrialized world while at the same time cruelly ravaging the third world.” -SIR JAMES GOLDSMITH
This part of the testimony delivered by Sir James Goldsmith before congress in 1994. They did not listen. I quote it because it is stated so well. The disaster he predicted in 1994 is now becoming our economic reality.
America is being destroyed by the Free Traitors. They make lots of money while they betray us and sell us off. Free Trade Robber Baron Warren Buffet is a good example. He made his billions by selling of America one factory at a time. It’s a CFR policy to destroy America and turn us into economic slaves of the New World Order. Debt is slavery.
Been watching manufacturing leave the US for years. Soon the only jobs will be at Walmart and McDonalds, not to knock them at least they provide jobs. Used to work in manufacturing, computer/video/audio tape and disks for disk drives, all that went out of the country in the 80′s, been in sales since. Unfortunately nothing we can do. The government, has learned to protect itself and will destroy any who endanger it. Exagerating, but not much, and not for long…
Lee Murray
Instead of the U.S.A. we should be using U.T.C.= United Territories of China!!!.
Ross Perot was a religous righter. We dodged a bullet avoiding him!
Jeff and Rosie,
Good points and I am with you!
I am not joking. Just shut down face book, you tube and all the social networking sites for two months. People may realize whats going on in US.
I see lot of people are talking about various solutions, but what is the actual probability of thing getting better, I mean does anyone think that government will do anything to make things better, it haven’t so far.
there is only one way america can recover its manufacturing capacity: robotics and robots. the future will find them ubiquitous. time to get in on the ground floor or lose out once again to east asia.
Losing manufacturing jobs to other nations may not have mattered as much if we had taken the next step in industrialization. We should have spent the last 20 years opening technical schools and enticing young people to careers in Science and Engineering. We could have been developing technology that all the other countries in the world needed – and would pay for. This could have off-set those lost jobs.
However, we spent those years sending our young people to law school, business school and fashion school. We laughed the whole time at scientists and engineers and thought of them as nerds. Who wants to be a nerd? Not us, we want to work for a good law firm and be well dressed.
We used to generate wealth by innovating new technology and applying good old-fashioned elbow grease, but now our idea of generating wealth is to charge each other hidden interest charges, force more and better types of insurance on each other and, when that isn’t enough, we sue each other into oblivion. How do you export law suits?
BTW – I happen to believe in capitalism. The problem with ours is, as the article states, that we are fat and lazy.
I have read some excellent thoughts and suggestions here. I, personally, think our biggest problem is our tax on production. Our income tax has driven many of our manufacturing businesses off shore. We need The FairTax. This is not a VAT, it is a one-time sales tax on the final sale of a new item. Resales are not taxed. If you are not familiar with this, please Google it, they have a web site. It is a-win-win situation. First introduced by my representative, John Linder of Georgia, it is now being promoted by a lot of people including TEA Partiers. The FairTax would replace all taxes and would solve the Social Security problem. I saw Donald Thrump on TV and he said he knew of businesses who had left this country because of the tax. The announcer commented that Mr. Trump had not left. His answer, “Yet.”
Then get the federal government out of the way. Cut regulations, restrictions, government oversight, etc. and let businesses get on with what they do best.
We must get rid of this “entitlement mentality.” We must again take pride in a hard day’s work.
The next thing we need to do is get rid of unions, both public and private. I believe unions are one of the main causes of the auto makers problems. Of course poor management made unwise contracts with labor. Labor unions were needed at one time, but not any more.
We must secure our borders and find someway to solve the illegal problem that is taking some jobs away from citizens.
Turn education back to the states. As you can see, once I got started I just thinking of more and more things that need to be fixed.
The ridiculously high U.S. corporate tax rate is pushing jobs overseas. Corporations will do whatever the can to book their profits in foreign countries where the taxes are lower. By manufacturing goods overseas, they can claim all their profits in the country where they did the manufacturing. They end up paying no taxes in the U.S.
So we have a high tax rate that results in little tax revenue. The solution is simple: lower the corporate tax rate. This would actually INCREASE revenue.
For those who say the jobs would leave anyway, yes, that is true for some products. But for bulky or high cost products, the cost of logistics and inventory usually outweigh the labor savings. The deciding factor is usually the tax rate.
Cut the tax rate from 35% to 20%, and the jobs would flow back into the U.S. like a river.
Charles
September 27th, 2010 at 3:07 am
“The answer is socialism (n…”
You have no idea what socialism is, or what socialism creates. I lived in so called socialism based on Marxism-Leninism for thirty (30) years. How much experience with socialism do you have?
All socialist experiments collapsed economies in respective states. That is a fact in last sixty (60) years.
Tell me what socialism do you have on your mind and why should YOUR idea works!
Marxist-Leninist ideas does not work. They create fascism and ruling oligarchy, while they destroy it’s own people.
A partial solution would be to increase domestic (US) oil production, partiuclarly in Alaska where the USGS says we have 8% of the worlds known oil reserves in the ANWR. This would not only produce trillions of dollars of wealth, but much of this wealth would find it’s way into the tax base and other oil-related industries.
I realize this does not directly address the author’s request for direct solutions to America’s industrial erosion, but it is a start. Wealth production is wealth production, whether it is from industrial or raw material production.
No one here has given a good explanation how our nation can survive in a post-industrial, post-employment America. Fortunately, I have a plan that I have based on the the Zero Point Profit phenomenon presently occurring. For example, papers are going broke because you can get your news free on the internet. Also, young people are using couch surfing via the web to travel without housing charges. Based on ZPP, I think we need to begin developing new tribal and clan identities based on my Montana Sanctuary concept. This is in fact a change of state (water to ice)process. You can read more about it here:
http://www.digitaluniverse.net/MonSanc/
The next crisis, coming soon is: The Student Loan Bubble is just about to burst! Almost One Trillion Dollars in Student loan debts, which US Government along with their predatory lenders like Sallie Mae have scammed American people with those so called worthless pieces of papers in their hands and very unlikely those graduates able to find a job, especially in this time of serious recession and crisis! Please visit
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forgivestudentloandebt.com%2F&h=2f266
For more information. The United States of America is sham, and this the biggest scandal of this century as far as I am concern. We all know more troubles would be ahead for America, but this is more serious than Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis coming up. I wish it were just problem in US to focus on. America is in trouble folks!
I notice there is no mention of planned obsolescence in the article. John Kenneth Galbraith wrote about it in 1959 in his book, The Affluent Society.
That was 10 years before the Moon landing. What have most economists said about it since 1969.
In 1995 there were 200,000,000 cars in the US. How much do Americans lose on the depreciation of automobiles every year? At $1,500 per care per year that is $300,000,000,000 every year. But out economists have said nothing about that.
STUPID CONSUMERISM may be a form of capitalism but I don’t hear economists saying that accounting should be mandatory in our schools. Double-entry accounting is SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS OLD. Stupid consumerism is just a high technology form of SLAVERY. Now we have the planned obsolescence of computer software. Sure kindergarten kids need computers more powerful than 1980 mainframes.
I forgot to mention in my earlier the competitive forces driving capitalism to outsource production and services overseas.
It begins with one company in an industry moving its production and services to a lower wage, lower cost country to realise cost benefits,which allows it to produce goods cheaper, which it can then sell cheaper in the United States and elsewhere.
That puts competitive pressure on the others withing its industry to do the same.
Hence, it’s the very market forces which Neo Liberals economic advocates so love which compels companies to move production and operations overseas, leading to a hollowing out of good paying jobs at home.
The immediate solution within the capitalist framework is a more tightly regulated capitalism which is forced to keep production at home, especially for the home market.
If they want to set up production plants overseas, it should be to produce goods cheaper for people in those markets where incomes are generally lower.
Neo Liberals may not like this but it’s necessary for the social good.
That way, it provides them jobs and raises their standard of living as well, while it enables the companies to make a profit from these markets – basically a win-win situation which prospers all.
Well folks America has also taken more lives through GENOCIDE/chattle slavery nuclear attacks on innocent women and babies NOW SHE MUST PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Charles socialism always sounds good on paper. I don’t understand why the whole world has not gone to socialism. It seems even now Europe is moving away from it. Seeing the history of socialism tells me it might be good on paper, but it does not work in the real word. From the research I have done Socialism only extends the poverty level higher into the middle class in stead of reducing it. It brings people down not up, except for the elite ruling class who get the most benefit. I also think Socialism takes away the initiative of the average Joe. When everyone is expecting someone else to take care of them eventually you overcome the producers with consumers. I believe this is major flaw in Socialism and the reason it will never work in any form.
I have a very simple solution to the problem..
what do you guys think about and import duty tax on all foreign made goods and services that is directly equal to the of labor rate of foreign labor versus domestic labor?
let’s take two factories for example…
1 in the united states, and 1 in china …both of them produce microwave ovens. the factory in the united states pays its workers $15 per hour, the 1 the in china, $2 per hour.
each microwave that is produced requires 10 hours of labor… socal 1 produced in the united states has $150 worth of labor associated with its price tag, the 1 from china, $20.
under our current free market economic model, both the chinese and american made microwaves sell for $200… the difference is the chinese company pockets an additional $130 over the american company for the exact same sale of the exact same product ,,,though we clearly now that the american produced model will generally be of the superior quality workmanship and materials that we expect of american made products.
as a direct result the chinese company can sell hits microwave 450 or 60 bucks or less then the american company and still realize a significantly higher profit margin than the american company … naturally the consumer will choose the cheaper of the 2 products .
if an “labor import offset duty tax” were introduced, the chinese company would be forced to pay $130 in taxes per microwave for the privilege of selling its products in the united states at the EXPENSE off american jobs.
if this idea were implemented, both of microwaves would cost exactly the same amount. the chinese company would not be able 2 discount its products below that of the american manufacturer, allowing american consumers to choose the higher quality domestically produced unit without sacrificing american jobs.
this idea has the double benefit of allowing foreign manufacturers to produce products that are of superior quality to american made products.. like for example mercedes-benz or bmw automobiles, that discriminating consumers who demand the highest quality, would not mind paying the premium for.
since the government would then be able to collect the majority of business taxes from this import duty, if they would not be required it too subject domestic manufacturing facilities and businesses to the outrageous 32% business tax .
this idea alone could save american manufacturing , put our country back to work , and level the playing field against cheap foreign labor while still giving consumers a choice any level playing field .
Socalism would be much better. We have out of control capitalism and no democracy. Vote out the republicans they are killing the middle class.
The export of manufacturing jobs was inevitable and absolutely predictable, unheeded voices have been warning for two generations that unless we compete we’ll sink. Labor not only refused to compete, they refused even to allow those who would. Have we forgotten so soon that for instance……..a simple basic small portable American built tv was costing two or three weeks salary back in the seventies, even though they were poorly made and undependable, and millions could not afford them except on a “major appliance” basis, many times requiring a loan. Then certain Asian companies simply took over the market that American labor was ignoring, the lower income American consumer. That little illustration is but the tip of the immense consumer iceberg against which big labor crashed and tore a gash in it’s side DESPITE FORTY YEARS OF WARNINGS THAT IT WAS COMING! It is completely impossible to stop consumers from looking for the most for their money, and immoral to even consider it. Why would the man who builds your furniture down in Tennessee for nine dollars an hour support your “buy American” campaign when you’re charging him seventy one dollars an hour (actual industry figure)to build his cars??? Not gonna happen, nor should it. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the one eyed beast on your desk is helping in the killing of America now. It’s a bottomless pit of free porn, blood soaked “games”, low level “pop” wisdom, sophomoric BS posing as “expert” information, unparalleled eye candy, stolen music, stolen app’s, stolen intelligence data with potentially deadly consequences, well crafted spin and outright lies, and that’s only the obvious. It’s not safe to even imply more than that. He who has an ear. A new reality is upon us, and there can be no going back. We’re rapidly approaching an era when you will earn only what you’re actually worth. Simple as that sounds it will be a terrible trial for many who have never had to face such a brutal reality, but an actual blessing to many who have never earned as much.
Charles couldn’t be more wrong about Linux. Charles also doesn’t mention open office – works just as well as MS Office, but is free.
Go lookat the statistics on NetCraft. Linux and Unix rule the server world. We’re now starting on the desktop users, too.
There is technology out there that you can use which is safe, secure, and not written by the pirates in Redmond.
This is actually kind of comical. The article is unfortunate (more on that later) but the comments are great. Haha, ha!
Anyways, if the manufacturing base in America is declining (and we’re not the first. England.) then it’s either because
A) American’s are too good for this crap
or
B) Corporations can get it done cheaper.
Obviously many Americans feel they are just right for this kind of crap, which leads to the question, why can it be done somewhere else for cheaper?
Many Asian countries have developed a slick model for manufacturing. Governments make it very easy, don’t burden employers with things like working conditions or decent wage requirements.
Well, there! This is clearly unfair!
Not at all. If Asian people would rather be subsistence farmers than work for $30 a month, they would. But it frigging sucks being a subsistence farmer, and they’d rather not starve if it doesn’t rain one spring. They voluntarily decide to go work for a manufacturing company that pays them crap and shoves them in a sweatshop, and frankly, all the power to them!
The truth is free trade is creating an international middle class that is truly ending poverty. Helicopter drop as many crates of food in Africa as you’d like, but they’ll keep starving a week later until the day Nike decides that Chinese workers are getting too rowdy and relocates to Somalia.
Now, how do we save the American worker base?
I doubt we can. We’re too wealthy, and now our wealth is being redistributed in the most macro of ways possible (until we start trading with Saturn). This is awesome news for the world, but crappy news for America.
Our only chance is to totally embrace free labor markets and cut down on business regulation and see if we’re competitive with that. I doubt many Americans would take the pay cut, though. Which is a shame.
Read history. Socialism does not work. Human beings are flawed. They corrupt socialism, too. Socialism forms an elite which holds all the money and power and makes all the decisions. They are rich; the rest are poor.
We need to return to the constitution. The founding fathers knew what they were protecting America from, and we are just about to give it over to them….complete loss of our freedom and rights.
Wake up! We need a moral base, a foundation that will enable people to be HONEST.
We need an honest judicial system which promotes equal rights for ALL. If you do the crime, you pay the time.
We need to be able to trust our politicians; we need to hold them accountable.
We need to get down on our knees and pray that we can salvage this land. It is the last bastion of freedom.
Manufacturing plants moving away has to do with our monetary system. A system based on debt and inflation. Our fiat systems devalues the currency to the point our dollar is worth nothing. Manufacturing plants leave because they can’t afford to pay Americans a living wage because the dollar is worthless. They have to pay so much just to allow people to survive in this economy. They can’t make money in our country. It isn’t capitalism, we haven’t had capitalism since 1913. We need to get back to a commodity based currency and get rid of the Federal Reserve. They are destroying this nation. We need to get back to capitalism and away from imperialism. Our elected officials have been bribed to allow monopolies in almost every business, look at gas, electricity, phone service, garbage there is no competition. No competition means no capitalism. An we suffer as consumers. End the Fed!
The greatest expense to business has never been taxes. Labor has always been the most expensive asset for business. Off shoring is about cheap labor. If you want to abolish union in America, then get your kids ready for factory jobs that pay pennies. Adults will not be able to find jobs put kids will be exploited again. The government is not a living being, it is a company made up of the same people that run your precious private industry. Private industry goes out of business and everyone forgets, government has no such luck. government trains our soldiers and do a great job doing so. So please stop saying it does nothing right! They are just our neighbors and friends trying to do there best.
I love these clowns who say it’s unions that are the bad guys. Talk about brainwashed morons.
Hey stupid people – try and figure this out – the objective of a business is PROFIT. PROFIT is the difference between the selling price and the production costs.
What is the objective of a worker? The objective of a worker is to obtain the highest amount of money for their labor possible.
Which of these two organizations has been heavily subsidized by governments the world over?
For example: Was it unions that demanded a new stadium for their football team (you know the stadium – it’s the one your local government used the tax money off your paycheck to pay for – NICE REBATE FOR THE businessman right?) Or how about all those car companies from all around the world (oh yeh – as a worker, you’re not allowed to try selling your labor all around the world, ARE YOU? But a business can seek profits wherever it wants!) that came into your town and beat you local government like a bitch to pony up money for a new manufacturing plant?
See how it works you stupid, moronic union bashing idiots?
Workers can’t do what corporations do. The only power unions have is by being local and sticking up for workers.
Next time a fireman or a cop comes to your house over another molestation complaint, I’d love to hear you complain about unions- you snivelling crybaby.
OH and PS you losers : Walmart in China is unionized. So suck that down.