[edsheppa]

Some recent frauds:

• The End of History
• The End of the Business Cycle
• The End of US Manufacturing

[Southack]

"Some recent frauds:

The End of History
The End of the Business Cycle
The End of US Manufacturing"

Others:

Global Cooling
Global Warming
Scarcity of Petroleum
Endangered Species (as if we can't clone them back)

DDT Fear-mongering
Nuclear Power fear-mongering
Global Over-Poulation Nonsense
"Diversity is Our Strength"

[Last Dakotan]

Sigh, how long will I have to read posts from people who have no idea of what they are talking about?
Tell you what, you are qualified to talk about the downsizing of American industry if you have had a trusted Purchasing Agent lean forward on his desk and tell you that you must take 30% less for what you do as a livelihood next year or he has to take your work overseas.
No matter what we think of them, the Japanese and the Chinese aren't idiots. They are willing to spend great sums of money undervaluing their currencies to burn out the American competition, knowing that they won't be back.
Furthermore, if domestic companies aren't producting for the US consumer market, how long are the companies producing the industrial goods these factories in turn need going to be viable? The domestic machine tool industry collapsed because of this very reason.
I agree that our greatest enemy is our our own government. Some days I just want to be treated like a farmer...

[ggekko]

US manufaturing is troubled but not becuase of free trade agreements. The real culptrits are, in order of importance,:

---An out of control lawsuit culture that
has bankrupted most recently a series of
companies involved, in some cases tangentially,
with asbestos manufacturing,

---Incomprehnsible OSHA, ERISA, and
Antitrust regulations that seem to change from
month to month,

---The worst Coporate tax system in the world which
has the effect of penalizing capital investment.

Much of the foreign direct investment (FDI) is in reality flight capital caused by the very negative US business climate.

Populist demgogues in Congress have convinced many brain-dead Americans that any pro-business legislation is evil. Until the problems listed above are forcefully addressed we will continue to see a net outflow of investment funds from this country.

[Tauzero]

Add to that:

Impossibility of deflation or depression