On the other hand, we used to make gazillions of shoes. Then the Italians made gazillions of shoes. Then the Brazilians. Then the Chinese. Now the Indians.
Yet, the world's most efficient athletic shoe maker is still in America and he has an almost totally automated and roboticized operation.
Do you really think the Italians, brazilians, Chinese and Indians can ultimately compete against shoe making robots?
What we are having to deal with in manufacturing is TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE and IMPROVEMENT. That factor eliminates more jobs than outsourcing ever did.
As productivity increases, as more work is able to be accomplished through automated processes, we seem to be finding less need for "workers".
We may find that 25% unemployment is normal. We have plenty of "stuff", and we get by with the productive labor of much fewer people. That will fundamentally change society.
I don’t understand how HDTV manufacturers make any money at all, frankly. What does a simple one go for nowadays, anyway? 300 bucks?
“Hey, we used to make TVs in America with large glass tubes. Now we don’t. Neither does anyone else.”
I got one of the last ones - a Panasonic 34” widescreen CRT - before they shut down the plant in the US. The plant had only been open for a couple of years before they shut it down - apparently Panasonic didn’t forsee how quickly the price of flat panels was going to come down and gut the market for CRTs.