My point here and elsewhere is that a country which produces nothing substantial cannot survive in the long run. We can't maintain an economy by selling to one another what someone else produces. Mercantile economies are temporary.
""My point here and elsewhere is that a country which produces nothing substantial cannot survive in the long run"
hmmm...Switzerland...yes i know they produce those nifty machines when you go to the eye doctor.
BTW the USA produces plenty substantial and for some reason you confuse manufacturing employment with manufacturing output
Go read the recent ISM reports or the recent industrial production reports, youll see industrial production for the past 2 years has been very healthy