[Alberta's Child]

Good post. The other thing missing from these discussions is the recognition of a fundamental problem facing every industrial nation: EXCESS CAPACITY.

Globally, we can produce far more manufactured products than we need. This has an underlying downward influence on the prices that we can charge for these products ... which puts high-wage countries at a basic competitive disadvantage.

[central_va]

To balance the difference in labor costs between the USA and the 3rd world would not take much. Frankly, most manufacturing is not labor intensive. That’s the point of mass production. Maybe 7% of retail prices goes to labor, and that’s for domestic union labor.