__________
#12 | Posted by ScottS at 2025-05-10 10:40 PM
Anyone with 'sticker shock' is the reason why the American economy is where it is today...
Reason for what? And "sticker shock" (inflation) is directly due to Trump-45+Biden+Congress throwing money at the economy and Trump's tariffs.
Just like US agriculture employment went from ~50% of US labor force in 1870 to ~33% in 1900 to ~1.5% in 2023, while supplying the nation with almost everything the population needs and significant exports to other countries (including China) who find their product desirable, the US manufacturing employment was reduced by automation (not "offshoring") while providing most of what the US needs and having significant exports of finished goods. Along with almost a third of $1T in accompanying service "trade surplus" to other countries.
Peak of manufacturing employment in 1970s - 19.5M people in 1979, 33% of labor force - was producing ~11% of real GDP (how is that for "efficiency / productivity"?); now 12.8M people in manufacturing account for 8.5% of labor force and is responsible for ~11% of real GDP, but is likely to slide lower still. Economies adjust for efficiency and productivity through automation and/or outsourcing when the costs of domestic production become untenable - IOW, when US labor "prices themselves out of the market."
"Money goes where it's welcome, and stays and multiplies where it's respected and appreciated."
Building a "Berlin Wall" trough tariffs doesn't work - we already saw predictable results here. "Industrial policy" doesn't work either - ask Biden.
No one is crying to "bring agriculture home" anymore but both left and right phony "populists" promise to "bring manufacturing home" to end "offshoring" because we have "empty factory towns" that couldn't adjust because they are not needed any more for various reasons, including younger population moving to city-centers for better education and service / professional jobs. It's not like we have a high unemployment because of "offshoring" - country has long moved on to service economy because "manu-facturing" (Latin: manufactura = making by hand) has been largely automated.
In 1960s computers were much more expensive than human labor; since 1980s human labor (union labor, in particular) became increasingly much more expensive relative to automation needed to produce better or higher quality output - hence, Third Industrial Revolution. **
Lutnick's "army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones - that kind of thing is going to come to America" is not "coming to America" - it's a fantasy in the times long past by the "globalism deniers" and believers in Trump Org "Central Committee economic planning" - it plays on the voters' economic illiteracy and ignorance of history, and party-line bros in particular, who put the "blame" on one or the other party / President / "the rich / elite" / "greed" for natural progress and adoption of technology, inventions and ingenuity.
No one is forcing you to buy "cheap crap" from China or any other country, you can still buy ugly expensive Cybertruck (65% built in US and Canada, 25% in Mexico, was planned for 80+% in Mexico Gigafactory but paused because... "Trump. will. fix. it") or any other "expensive crap" from anywhere. No one talked about being "ripped off" by availability of Japanese "cheap crap" from Epson, Citizen, Sanyo electronics or watches instead of US brands or expensive "high-precision" Swiss watches.
The worst monsters offer you the best dreams... Then you wake up.
__________
