As the CEO’s of Intel, Emerson Electric, and many others have publicly stated, wages in the automation age make little difference.
It’s taxes, UNLIMITED CIVIL LIABILITY, insane government regulations, and inane enviro regs that have made manufacturing in America uncompetitive, even with transportation costs at $100 oil. Just look at what government has done to coal, as but one example.
Wages and unionism are frankly at the bottom of the list.
Look at product costs. The wage differential dwarfs the costs of regulation.
The CEO’s complain about regulation because it’s a corporate headache and they still maintain some headquarters and operations here.
Not everything can be easily automated. That’s why they use Chinese labor. If all the processes were automated, then raw material costs and transportation costs would rule the day. But they aren’t. And that’s where most of our jobs have gone.
The manufacturing that has remained in the U.S. is highly automated. But their is an opportunity to bring back jobs that aren’t highly automated.
Throw in the following:
Determination by employees to have businesses pay for their wants in life
Tendency to sue employers so the business they work for will pay for their sex changes
Determination of an UNSKILLED workforce to demand more pay and perks
Spitting in the face of executives who stay up all night running these businesses
Antics by ‘rights groups’ that used to sue on a regular basis and demand major payouts; this is why a lot of businesses are moving overseas to avoid this abuse