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I'm old enough to remember the mantra "manufacturing is never coming back to the US!" ANY system with numerous, complex, and hidden dependencies is fragile and

I'm old enough to remember the mantra "manufacturing is never coming back to the US!" ANY system with numerous, complex, and hidden dependencies is fragile and higher risk. Covid, Russia/Ukraine, and now the BRICS/de-dollarization are making many of those dependencies explicit.

pixl97 3y ago
Eh 'never' was always the wrong statement because a lot of manufacturing that required large amounts of stable power while having low manpower requirements never left the US. At the same time I don't think we should expect any factories coming to the US to provide massive amounts of jobs as they did in the past. Companies that manufactured overseas quite commonly had their administrative divisions either in the US already, or some other country, and as a huge amount of that is remote style work it will remain fungible.
themaninthedark 3y ago
I remember when we signed NAFTA and it was said we didn't need those jobs. Something about becoming a service economy. The 'never coming back' mantra was mostrecently the unfortunate cry of the democrats during the 2016 election cycle. A shame because it cemented in the minds of the rural working class that they are unwanted. We value diversity but then make these claims that our economy doesn't need this.
- rayiner 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - digitaltrees 3y ago
    Said no one ever.
    - rayiner 3y ago
      That’s the underlying premise of their politics. The immigrants Hilary Clinton wants to bring to the country aren’t any less “deplorable” (from her viewpoint) than rural white Americans. They are just don’t feel the same ownership over the society, and are willing to support people like Clinton in return for being allowed to come here.
      - digitaltrees 3y ago
        What speech or policy has any democrat made that supports any of what you are saying?
      - roundandround 3y ago
        Immigrants can't vote so this logic is bizarre. The people who make the most money off illegal immigrants in the US are rural land owners, meat packing plant owners, etc. They don't want illegal immigration to stop they just want to keep those laborers cheap which wouldn't happen with a reform that makes them comfortable seeking a new employer.
        rayiner 3y ago
        [flagged]
        roundandround 3y ago
        It sounds to me like you've got some kind of self loathing thing going on. Political arguments are mostly about whether illegal immigrants should get at best a gradual path to citizenship which doesn't mean they will be a tool to win the electoral college.
        rayiner 3y ago
        Quite the opposite: as I have become more established in this country, I’m less inclined to reject my parents’ values. E.g. JD Vance and my dad are kind of on the same page about childless people. That was never politically motivating for my parents, because they could just tell me “you can’t do what your white friends do.” I can’t realistically tell my own kids that. I have to care about the direction of American culture in a way my parents didn’t. Almost 10% of the potential electorate is foreign born naturalized citizens like me and my parents. Most of these folks aren’t liberal. They are in a political alliance which is based on white liberals supporting immigration and certain welfare systems, and non-white immigrants looking the other way on cultural issues.
- steve76 3y ago
  [dead]
- Gibbon1 3y ago
  > Something about becoming a service economy. Stupidest thing economists got people to believe. That it's a good idea to export industries like manufacturing that benefit highly from technological progress. While keeping those most subject to Baumol's Cost disease. Bonus: Prioritizing overhead industries like adshit, finance and insurance.

pixl97 3y ago

Eh 'never' was always the wrong statement because a lot of manufacturing that required large amounts of stable power while having low manpower requirements never left the US. At the same time I don't think we should expect any factories coming to the US to provide massive amounts of jobs as they did in the past. Companies that manufactured overseas quite commonly had their administrative divisions either in the US already, or some other country, and as a huge amount of that is remote style work it will remain fungible.

themaninthedark 3y ago

I remember when we signed NAFTA and it was said we didn't need those jobs. Something about becoming a service economy. The 'never coming back' mantra was mostrecently the unfortunate cry of the democrats during the 2016 election cycle. A shame because it cemented in the minds of the rural working class that they are unwanted. We value diversity but then make these claims that our economy doesn't need this.

rayiner 3y ago
[flagged]
- digitaltrees 3y ago
  Said no one ever.
  - rayiner 3y ago
    That’s the underlying premise of their politics. The immigrants Hilary Clinton wants to bring to the country aren’t any less “deplorable” (from her viewpoint) than rural white Americans. They are just don’t feel the same ownership over the society, and are willing to support people like Clinton in return for being allowed to come here.
    - digitaltrees 3y ago
      What speech or policy has any democrat made that supports any of what you are saying?
    - roundandround 3y ago
      Immigrants can't vote so this logic is bizarre. The people who make the most money off illegal immigrants in the US are rural land owners, meat packing plant owners, etc. They don't want illegal immigration to stop they just want to keep those laborers cheap which wouldn't happen with a reform that makes them comfortable seeking a new employer.
      - rayiner 3y ago
        [flagged]
        roundandround 3y ago
        It sounds to me like you've got some kind of self loathing thing going on. Political arguments are mostly about whether illegal immigrants should get at best a gradual path to citizenship which doesn't mean they will be a tool to win the electoral college.
        rayiner 3y ago
        Quite the opposite: as I have become more established in this country, I’m less inclined to reject my parents’ values. E.g. JD Vance and my dad are kind of on the same page about childless people. That was never politically motivating for my parents, because they could just tell me “you can’t do what your white friends do.” I can’t realistically tell my own kids that. I have to care about the direction of American culture in a way my parents didn’t. Almost 10% of the potential electorate is foreign born naturalized citizens like me and my parents. Most of these folks aren’t liberal. They are in a political alliance which is based on white liberals supporting immigration and certain welfare systems, and non-white immigrants looking the other way on cultural issues.
steve76 3y ago
[dead]
Gibbon1 3y ago
> Something about becoming a service economy. Stupidest thing economists got people to believe. That it's a good idea to export industries like manufacturing that benefit highly from technological progress. While keeping those most subject to Baumol's Cost disease. Bonus: Prioritizing overhead industries like adshit, finance and insurance.