> There are 340 million or so people in the United States - what’s the human capital problem? I'll be bold and suggest that the 'third rail' human capital prob

> There are 340 million or so people in the United States - what’s the human capital problem? I'll be bold and suggest that the 'third rail' human capital problem that almost feels sidestepped by the Parent comment you're replying to (i.e. maybe that's what they are asking, but really is the question everyone should be asking,) is the question of how there will be enough jobs paying into the overall 'system' to sustain any of it. > Even for agriculture or construction it’s not like America can’t issue seasonal work permits or something. We have plenty of levers there and plenty of folks who would come work here. But those would be can kicks, and 'properly' implementing most of those levers would just increase the cost. On some level 'work permits' are a can-kick, we are saying we can't pay people inside our country enough to do the work which in itself indicates an imbalance somewhere. > Agreed, but if both parties get behind it, I don’t think it would matter too much. I feel like this ignores the second+ order effects. US Petrodollar hegemony has been for better or worse a sort of global constant despite Nixon Shock [0] and we IMO don't have the necessary infrastructure to handle another round of that, because this time around we've got way less manufacturing capacity to keep the circus running [1]. The biggest problem being, 'complacency via placation' has been too ingrained in folks for lots of reasons, and now we are in a situation where people aren't willing to give up simple things. I mean you imagine the reaction of your modern American[2] if they had to do something like deal with gas rations, let alone limitations on how much waste they could create... [0] - I bet folks are watching what's going on with Yen Carry trade very closely [1] - I will die on the hill that 'Ashtabula Cranks' are a benchmark of basic US Manufacturing capability tho. [2] - I am, but also I saw what happened during covid