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Exactly this. Don't think of it as "moving to a service-based economy", think of it as "outsourcing manufacturing and resource extraction". They are two sides o
by deltarholamda 2y ago
Exactly this. Don't think of it as "moving to a service-based economy", think of it as "outsourcing manufacturing and resource extraction". They are two sides of the same coin, but people tend to only look at the one shiny side.
Like any race to the bottom, it works great until you hit the bottom. Only now you don't have any of the fundamental industry, and you've lost all of the domain knowledge of those industries. Short-term thinking is incredibly seductive.
- ANewFormation 2y agoIt also creates this weird power imbalance. 'Advanced economies' are supposed to be just that, yet 'developing economies' cutting off their grain, steel and manufacturing is a far bigger threat than an advanced economy cutting off digital services, luxury goods, and financial markets.
- nine_k 2y agoBut "advanced" means "gone farther in a particular direction", not "more powerful", "independent", or some such. Mostly it's about giving the population more comfort. Equally, staying on a sofa can give you more comfort than hitting a gym, but it usually does not make you stronger.