Well the free traders told me that letting go of manufacturing was a good thing --- we would somehow benefit if foreign goods were very cheap so we could buy them. Now the weak-dollarers are telling me the opposite --- that foreign goods should be expensive and we should want manufacturing. We should want expensive goods and expensive oil and other imports --- who is right?
And foreign imports haven't really gotten that much more expensive. China's currency is pegged to ours, so there's been no change in the cost of their exports to us. Europeans have decreased their profit margins on their exports to the US to try to remain competitive, but it's gotten to the point where no more cutting can help.
This is almost certainly a temporary phenomenon. As the American economy heats up, we'll raise interest rates and the dollar will strengthen. And a robust American economy lifts the rest of the world with it. So they're just going to have to endure some temporary pain in order to make that happen.
The one country that gets a free ride out of this is China, which is why we are trying to get them to unpeg the yuan.