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For a relatively angry-toned comment, I feel you hit the nail on the head.

• mattmanser 10y ago
  If you or the OP had actually read the article, you'd know that isn't the case: From an economic perspective, however, there can be no revival of American manufacturing, because there has been no collapse. Because of automation, there are far fewer jobs in factories. But the value of stuff made in America reached a record high in the first quarter of 2016, even after adjusting for inflation. The present moment, in other words, is the most productive in the nation’s history.
  • mikekchar 10y ago
    I'm not sure there is such a disconnect as you suggest. While value has increased, I might posit that the value is due to the fact that the US focuses on the value-added side of the equation. So if the US produces cars, it doesn't produce the Daihatsus or the Fiats of the world. They focus on $40K cars. It took me moving to Japan to realise that you can buy a perfectly good car for under $10K. If the bottom falls out, the US may find that there are no customers for their comparative luxury goods and no US citizen willing to work for little enough to be competitive with anything else. I am, of course, an random guy on the internet and my observations are worth slightly less than that, so who knows ;-)