Precisely. I would make beating China economically one of the top five goals of the US. I would favor trade with nations that most closely share our political and cultural identity, and would work hard to position the US as the world leader in the production of ‘quality’ and ‘safe’ products, including the highest quality pharmaceuticals and medical devices, higher-end clothing, safe and high-quality foods, the safest children's toys, etc. etc.
We can't out-compete the world market on the basis of lower labor costs, unless we decimate our standard of living, but we can out-compete in terms of quality. We should have the economic equivalent to the Apollo program - with the goal that within a decade a specific percentage of American products will be accepted as the highest quality in the world. People will spend more if the quality justifies it.
“We can’t out-compete the world market on the basis of lower labor costs, unless we decimate our standard of living,”
Not so. Destroy the unions here and prices go WAY down.
Yes, actually we can. The traditional American solution to high labor costs is increased automation and innovation, something the labor unions will destroy a plant over.
Destroy the unions, deport the illegals, roll back the insane EPA enviro regs, watch automation/innovation grow and the American economy flourish.
We already are. Consumers have demonstrated over and over agin that they want cheap - period. Many a fine American small business has tried the "quality" angle and been driven into the ground by its low-priced competitors.
The problem is that appreciation for quality requires certain values, which are no longer being instilled or upheld by American society.