[widebody911]

Originally posted by john_cramer
How do we compete "globally?" We focus on things that are value-added, like engineering, research and development, etc.

Guess what, that's moving offshore, too. If we simplisticly assume the trend continues linearly, the only jobs left here will be telephone sanitizers.

Low-tech manufacturing jobs SHOULD be outsourced

So, with a nation of ~300 million people, you're suggesting they all become pharmaceutical researchers and marketers?


It's an immutable law of the universe that Capital, like water and electricty, flows in the path of least resistance. You can harness it with free trade, and try to let the impact of outsourced production bring improved wages around the world.

It's just that 'around the world' won't include the US.

You cannot possibly expect people to preserve their environment as a pristine playground for you to vacation in, as they try to figure out how the hell to feed themselves and grow their economy above the agricultural/demesne level.

A good chunk of the pollution overseas (and Mexico) American companies setting up shop over there and doing the polluting they can't get away with here. Basically, they're making the same mistakes - or worse - that were made during the US's industrial development, only now they're using processes and chemicals that didn't exist in the 1800s.