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There’s a big misconception about manufacturing jobs. Yes, China did take them, but only by outbidding our efforts at automation and robotics. There is no way A

There’s a big misconception about manufacturing jobs. Yes, China did take them, but only by outbidding our efforts at automation and robotics. There is no way America has the headcount nor efficiency (no American would work to live at the level of a Chinese factory worker) to match the human labor costs of China. Therefore if labor does move back to the US we’d just invest heavily in automation to compensate. Those jobs were long gone, and they’re either going to be done by a cheap robot or cheap person in a developing country.

mc32 7y ago
China is automating as well. I bet they’re not thinking “well, why bother trying to be the destination for offshoring, we’re gonna automate it anyway”. No, they understand strategic technologies, economic positioning, trade deficits, keeping people employed, etc. Also, on-shoring and automation would make our workers more productive and thus be compensated better and reverse the decline in real earnings since the 80s.
- chrischen 7y ago
  Workers will be more productive, which is why there will be fewer of them.
  - bobthepanda 7y ago
    More productive blue-collar work is good though, because it results in two things: - a path to higher earnings for those without college-level education, slowing if not eliminating the hollowing out of a lot of traditional "middle class" jobs - said workers will also result in additional money flowing through the economy. Lower earning workers spend more of their income on goods and services as opposed to savings, boosting the economy. It's why Ford paid his workers enough to be able to afford his cars, a crazy idea at the time; a healthy middle class is one that can spend money on further things. The increasing economic inequality in America has mostly resulted in lower-earning workers using credit to try and replace middle-class earning power, and we saw how well that turned out the last recession.
    - cliffy 7y ago
      What makes you think improvements in productivity will result in higher earnings for blue-collar workers? In reality relative productivity and pay have diverged wildly since 1973: https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ It seems like increases in productivity would only increase employment and pay if there are laws in place to make those things happen.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  China has to automate not just because of labor costs, but the products themselves often suck when made manually. Take for example Toyota: considered a decent car in Japan and the USA where Toyota factories are extremely automated, but falls apart in China because they are made largely by hand. > Also, on-shoring and automation would make our workers more productive and thus be compensated better and reverse the decline in real earnings since the 80s. Productivity would go up for sure, it isn't clear that the workers would realize those gains, however, as the productivity increase is largely coming from capital (in a purely capitalistic society, capital reaps the benefits of capital). Additionally, far fewer of those workers are needed to make the same amount of product.

mc32 7y ago

China is automating as well. I bet they’re not thinking “well, why bother trying to be the destination for offshoring, we’re gonna automate it anyway”. No, they understand strategic technologies, economic positioning, trade deficits, keeping people employed, etc. Also, on-shoring and automation would make our workers more productive and thus be compensated better and reverse the decline in real earnings since the 80s.

chrischen 7y ago
Workers will be more productive, which is why there will be fewer of them.
- bobthepanda 7y ago
  More productive blue-collar work is good though, because it results in two things: - a path to higher earnings for those without college-level education, slowing if not eliminating the hollowing out of a lot of traditional "middle class" jobs - said workers will also result in additional money flowing through the economy. Lower earning workers spend more of their income on goods and services as opposed to savings, boosting the economy. It's why Ford paid his workers enough to be able to afford his cars, a crazy idea at the time; a healthy middle class is one that can spend money on further things. The increasing economic inequality in America has mostly resulted in lower-earning workers using credit to try and replace middle-class earning power, and we saw how well that turned out the last recession.
  - cliffy 7y ago
    What makes you think improvements in productivity will result in higher earnings for blue-collar workers? In reality relative productivity and pay have diverged wildly since 1973: https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ It seems like increases in productivity would only increase employment and pay if there are laws in place to make those things happen.
seanmcdirmid 7y ago
China has to automate not just because of labor costs, but the products themselves often suck when made manually. Take for example Toyota: considered a decent car in Japan and the USA where Toyota factories are extremely automated, but falls apart in China because they are made largely by hand. > Also, on-shoring and automation would make our workers more productive and thus be compensated better and reverse the decline in real earnings since the 80s. Productivity would go up for sure, it isn't clear that the workers would realize those gains, however, as the productivity increase is largely coming from capital (in a purely capitalistic society, capital reaps the benefits of capital). Additionally, far fewer of those workers are needed to make the same amount of product.