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Someone in 1920's UK: "Living in Manchester, I don't believe this for a second. Cloth and clothing manufacture has become unbelievably massive throughout Lanca

Someone in 1920's UK: "Living in Manchester, I don't believe this for a second. Cloth and clothing manufacture has become unbelievably massive throughout Lancashire since the spinning jenny in 1760. Manchester wasn't called Cottonopolis for the last 100 years for nothing. It isn't going anywhere soon." They produced for all levels of the market from the cheapest to the most premium. Mostly cloth, but a big apparel industry on the back of it. By the time of WW2, almost half a million had left the industry. Through the 50s and 60s mills and garment makers were closing weekly. By the 1970s or 1980s there was essentially nothing left. Nothing in stores is UK made any more, except the highest end and bespoke. Cheap T's and the like will probably always come from wherever's cheapest. For the rest, never say never. :)

perl4ever 8y ago
I noticed some jeans I bought a while ago had a label that said they were made in Lesotho (which is not in Asia). A motorcycle I owned in 2009 was made in Thailand. A car I owned in 2011 was made in South Africa. These are all things being imported into the US. China and India make a lot of things because they are big, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world does nothing or that tomorrow large parts of the world will close up shop.
freddie_mercury 8y ago
So you're saying it'll take 2-3 decades? Sounds like you're agreeing that it won't go anywhere fast and instead will take 20-40 years?
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  Depends what you call fast. Fast enough to cause deprivation more than likely, and the usual bell curve. For a career, an industry almost completely exiting in half a working lifetime might be thought fast by many outside IT. :) Some will leave early, most when some tipping point is reached, and some will hang on for decades. Something different will fill the gap.
- sremani 8y ago
  10 years .. shorter supply chains is going to be trend in post-brettonwoods world. The free-traders and multilateral trade agreement people lost the fight both on left and right in USA. Prima facie evidence TPP.
- fiblye 8y ago
  I could see it being much faster than that. As someone working in automation, a lot of our recent work is involved with automating tech and car manufacturing in Vietnam. I could easily see a shift away from textiles and into more advanced manufacturing very soon.
pytester 8y ago
Investors everywhere drool at the idea that automation can make employees redundant - they're expensive and one of the biggest sources of risk in a business. Employees make investors super jittery. I think the Trump trade war has only elevated those jitters. Investors are terrified at the prospect of paying an American $15 / hour what they used to pay $4 for in Vietnam. The demand for automation is very, very, very high because of this. This drives a lot of investment which pushes up developer wages. It also means that a lot of people seeking investment aren't 100% truthful about what is possible and what isn't in their press releases. Which is how we get this: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/06/artificial-intelligence-ai-humans-bots-tech-companies https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/06/artificia... I think that this charade of "we will eventually automate 100% of the world out of a job" is kind of the silicon valley religion. Challenging it means violating a taboo - it threatens the torrent of cash being funneled into our ecosystem and, frankly, undermines the very core of the power we hold.

perl4ever 8y ago

I noticed some jeans I bought a while ago had a label that said they were made in Lesotho (which is not in Asia). A motorcycle I owned in 2009 was made in Thailand. A car I owned in 2011 was made in South Africa. These are all things being imported into the US. China and India make a lot of things because they are big, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world does nothing or that tomorrow large parts of the world will close up shop.

freddie_mercury 8y ago

So you're saying it'll take 2-3 decades? Sounds like you're agreeing that it won't go anywhere fast and instead will take 20-40 years?

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Depends what you call fast. Fast enough to cause deprivation more than likely, and the usual bell curve. For a career, an industry almost completely exiting in half a working lifetime might be thought fast by many outside IT. :) Some will leave early, most when some tipping point is reached, and some will hang on for decades. Something different will fill the gap.
sremani 8y ago
10 years .. shorter supply chains is going to be trend in post-brettonwoods world. The free-traders and multilateral trade agreement people lost the fight both on left and right in USA. Prima facie evidence TPP.
fiblye 8y ago
I could see it being much faster than that. As someone working in automation, a lot of our recent work is involved with automating tech and car manufacturing in Vietnam. I could easily see a shift away from textiles and into more advanced manufacturing very soon.

pytester 8y ago

Investors everywhere drool at the idea that automation can make employees redundant - they're expensive and one of the biggest sources of risk in a business. Employees make investors super jittery. I think the Trump trade war has only elevated those jitters. Investors are terrified at the prospect of paying an American $15 / hour what they used to pay $4 for in Vietnam. The demand for automation is very, very, very high because of this. This drives a lot of investment which pushes up developer wages. It also means that a lot of people seeking investment aren't 100% truthful about what is possible and what isn't in their press releases. Which is how we get this: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/06/artificial-intelligence-ai-humans-bots-tech-companies https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/06/artificia... I think that this charade of "we will eventually automate 100% of the world out of a job" is kind of the silicon valley religion. Challenging it means violating a taboo - it threatens the torrent of cash being funneled into our ecosystem and, frankly, undermines the very core of the power we hold.