""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
Switzerland is a small country whose sole purpose for existing has been to provide the world with banking service for, what, seven centuries now?
I should have been a little more precise with my statement. What we increasingly lack is a way for individuals on the bottom to use to work their way up through the social ladder. Basic industrial business has provided that to us since the demise of the agriculture economy. While I'm obviously not an economist, it seems unfortunate to me that Wal Mart is such a person's only means of climbing the ladder--in other words, it's no ladder at all.