Containerized shipping is a major factor in the decline of manufacturing employment in the West, which was the backbone of the 20th century economy. Politicall

Containerized shipping is a major factor in the decline of manufacturing employment in the West, which was the backbone of the 20th century economy. Politically, NAFTA, GATT, MFN status for China, and the creation of the H1-B program all happened around the stuff waps mentions above (oil price drop, stock bubble, and dot.com bubble of the 1990s). When the latter burst, the effects of the former became more clearly apparent. While this lead to increased opportunity in many countries, the cumulative result of all these changes makes the entry-level job market in developed countries in 2014 or 2004 very different than that of 1994, 1984, or 1974, and it's difficult for older Westerners to account for this when projecting their own experiences.