There will always be some individual inconvenience as our national labor resources are shifted into more productive uses, but on the whole, sending basic manufacturing jobs overseas is the sign of a healthy economy.
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We're at a stage now where we give the third world paper money, and they give us tangible stuff in return. The money comes back to us to purchase our services and the things we produce best.
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I can understand this argument... it seems that the assumption is that these manufacturing countries for their OWN BENEFIT, will have to continue to INVEST their surplus dollars in the USA to ENSURE that they have customers who CAN CONTINUE to purchase their production.
Hence, China will continue to do that, not because she loves the USA, but because of the USA is incapable of buying her products, China itself suffers.
But how long can this continue ?
Eventually -- we might see a case where the wages of the Chinese catch up with the USA and it becomes no longer cheap to manufacture their ( if that day comes, we might even see outsourcing from China to say, Afghanistan ( much like Taiwan used to be the manufacturer non-pareil 30 years ago but then outsource their manufacturing to China ).
It might actually happen. Remember Hongkong ? In the 1960's and early 70's it used to be synonymous for cheap products and cheap factories. No more, the average wage of HK has now EXCEEDED that of even her former colonial master, the UK. Heck, Disneyland recently opened in Hongkong indicating the average HK family's ability to PAY for such luxury when 30 years ago, this would be unthinkable.
Eventually, we might see a return to equilibrium -- the Chinese salaries catching up to ours. By then -- it would not be cheap to manufacture in China anymore.
Bangalore in India, I hear is having problems that Silicon Valley experienced in the heydays of the microprocessor. Extremely talented programmers jumping from one company to another depending on who can give him the best incentive. THIS FOLKS -- IS SALARY PRESSURE. Let them keep this up and in a decade or so, Indian programmers won't be cheap any longer. Unless countries like Ethiopia or Vietnam get their act together, there won't be an attractive place to outsource high tech work when that happens.
What goes around can come around.
"to purchase our services and the things we produce best"
What it that really though? Seriously. What is our (the US's) core competency? It used to be science, invention, etc... But a lot of that is coming from overseas now too.
In the long run (and I mean really long) I think our claim to fame may end up being food. Think about it. As other countries develop and can therefore actualy pay for things, their desire for a higher quality food supply will increase apace. What can we still do better than anyone else in the world? Farm. Our farm productivity puts the rest of the world to shame - partly because of our technology, but also because of our land and climate.
And in the long run, isn't food the most essential commodity after water?
Other than that, I honestly don't see anything else we have as a national competetitive adavantage.
Lord knows our people are not the hardest working, and increasingly not the best educated.
I'm glad I'm old...