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You are so correct. In the 40's with half the population of today, we produced enough arms and material to subdue our enemies on in both Europe and the Pacific all at the same time. In the 50's we produced right here all the TV's, cameras and electronics we needed at reasonable prices. The average working man could afford to buy a new car every few years. The roots of globalism When the tentacles of globalism started creeping into the economy, the 60's the price of cars started to shoot for the moon, along with our manufacturing jobs; the basis of a middle class living, were sent to low wage bastions. The robber barons that did this to us, their motive being selfish self-enrichment only; bought off the politicians who rigged the system in favor of globalism. We can again produce 98% of what we need right here in the USA, only import things like bannanas, coffee, tea, and raw materials and thereby enjoy a wave of prosperity the world would envy. Instead, we are giving away billions in one way global trading for goods that are on a one way trip to landfills, and putting the enonomy into a self inflicted death spirial, all for the sake of ever greater profits in the coffers of stateless multinationals, who give not a damn what happens to the citizens of the USA who have little choice but to buy their crappy wares.
We are so on our backs as a nation that we would lose a WWII if the same conflict, requiring the same amount of manufactured goods happened today. With twice the population we could not manufacture enough to defend ourselves as did the USA of the 1940's, because our industrial base has been savaged at the altar of globalism.

As www.economyincrisis.com notes, US Government statistics indicate the following percentages of foreign ownership of American industry:

· Sound recording industries - 97%
· Commodity contracts dealing and brokerage - 79%
· Motion picture and sound recording industries - 75%
· Metal ore mining - 65%
· Motion picture and video industries - 64%
· Wineries and distilleries - 64%
· Database, directory, and other publishers - 63%
· Book publishers - 63%
· Cement, concrete, lime, and gypsum product - 62%
· Engine, turbine and power transmission equipment - 57%
· Rubber product - 53%
· Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing - 53%
· Plastics and rubber products manufacturing - 52%
· Plastics product - 51%
· Other insurance related activities - 51%
· Boiler, tank, and shipping container - 50%
· Glass and glass product - 48%
· Coal mining - 48%
· Sugar and confectionery product - 48%
· Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying - 47%
· Advertising and related services - 41%
· Pharmaceutical and medicine - 40%
· Clay, refractory, and other nonmetallic mineral products - 40%
· Securities brokerage - 38%
· Other general purpose machinery - 37%
· Audio and video equipment mfg and reproducing magnetic and optical media - 36%
· Support activities for mining - 36%
· Soap, cleaning compound, and toilet preparation - 32%
· Chemical manufacturing - 30%
· Industrial machinery - 30%
· Securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments and related activities - 30%
· Other food - 29%
· Motor vehicles and parts - 29%
· Machinery manufacturing - 28%
· Other electrical equipment and component - 28%
· Securities and commodity exchanges and other financial investment activities - 27%
· Architectural, engineering, and related services - 26%
· Credit card issuing and other consumer credit - 26%
· Petroleum refineries (including integrated) - 25%
· Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments - 25%
· Petroleum and coal products manufacturing - 25%
· Transportation equipment manufacturing - 25%
· Commercial and service industry machinery - 25%
· Basic chemical - 24%
· Investment banking and securities dealing - 24%
· Semiconductor and other electronic component - 23%
· Paint, coating, and adhesive - 22%
· Printing and related support activities - 21%
· Chemical product and preparation - 20%
· Iron, steel mills, and steel products - 20%
· Agriculture, construction, and mining machinery - 20%
· Publishing industries - 20%
· Medical equipment and supplies - 20%

Thus it shouldn't surprise us that the cons have sold off our ports as well, and will defend it to the bitter end. They truly believe that a "New World Order" with multinational corporations in charge instead of sovereign governments will be the answer to the problem of world instability. And therefore they must do away with quaint things like unions, a healthy middle class, and, ultimately, democracy.
http://www.economyincrisis.org/articles/showarticle.asp?ID=102