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I'm sure the slave wages, no OSHA, and lax pollution controls in China had nothing to do with it, either.

That certainly hasn't helped grow manufacturing, but as of 2006, we didn't have the work force for it anyway (remember the 4.6% unemployment rate?).

Even more than our less competitive stance, the overpriced doll has hurt manufacturing. When the dollar finally fell in 2007, our increase in manufactured goods gave us a net gain in GDP, just because our goods were cheaper overseas..

Japan and China consciously kept the dollar overvalued for years to lower the price of their exports.

Outsourcing has not failed, China and India are finally flexing some financial muscle, and have billions of people for a work force. It is only natural for labor intensive manufacturing to migrate to the lower labor costs.

That doesn't change the fact that the US manufactures as much as it always has, both in a percentage of our size, and in adjusted dollar amounts.

(remember the 4.6% unemployment rate?)

Not really. Here in (formerly) manufacturing country, employment has sucked for some time. Many of the displaced workers had jobs, but the jobs paid dirt and those people weren't buying things except on credit. So our downtowns and small businesses have really been struggling for some time now.

Outsourcing has not failed, China and India are finally flexing some financial muscle, and have billions of people for a work force. It is only natural for labor intensive manufacturing to migrate to the lower labor costs.

Outsourcing our way to prosperity has certainly failed. I'd rather pay a bit more for a shirt made here so that my neighbor can have a job and can also buy things that I might be selling.

Instead, almost everything one can buy is being manufactured in a communist dictatorship of some sort. The fuel in my gas tank is imported. The electronics in my radio are imported. Nearly everything I wear is imported.

We have to rethink our "cheap stuff" strategy if we care about where our nation is going.