Foreign trade.....
 

Foreign trade.....why?? we have enough oil to pump for the next 200 years, on the N/A continent....so screw all the islamics, we don't need their oil.....

even if they pump it for free, they still have to load a tanker and then unload it into our refineries......why bother???

who do we import cars?? paying Krauts in Europe to make just WHAT that can't be made just as well here?? same for the Orient/China/Japan/Korea....etc.....

the only areas to suffer are the shipping ports.....BUT the one's to prosper are the guys/gals in OUR factories/pump stations/pipelines/etc....

WE have our own damn tech HOO needs them?? for that matter, educate our own kids, not theirs......


:issues:

We invented the TV but I don't think anyone manufactures them here anymore. The textile industry died here long ago. We import steel and other metals because we lack the manufacturing base to supply all our needs. Maglite cannot even build a simple flashlight with parts wholly sourced here because nobody makes the bulbs they need to have a 100 percent "made in the USA" product. We are not the industrial powerhouse we were 60 years ago.

AND specifically I SAY it is because of our .gov policy.......it needs changing...BIG TIME!!!!!


:issues:

Perhaps. But until the change unless you want to knit your own socks and weave your own underwear we're stuck in a global economy. At least everyone else is sort of in the same boat except for maybe the Chinese.

It's a lot more complicated than this. TV industry left the USA because the ROW market was so much bigger and the costs in the USA were driven up. Same for Textiles. Both had different cost drivers that made them untenable.( Unionization, EPA regulations, Taxes, Overhead like Medical, ETC,ETC)


Steel is a much more complicated issue. After WWII most of the ROW steel production was blown to hell. They all bought new leading edge forgers from us. We did not upgrade. It hurt us for decades. Then in the 80's and 90's steel started to rebound. At the same time China started programs to subsidies exports of steel so they could corner the market China sells much of their steel at or below their cost of production and now control over 50% of the world market place.

Please note that most of the Chinese steel industry is owned or controlled by the PLA.

mfgring has advanced to the point you don't need mega-skilled workers much any more for the building/production part of the process.

The US can't supply enough of the needed lower-skilled workers - because these US citizens would rather sit at home getting drunk/high and receive a free check in the mail (plus food stamps and other "incentives"... created to buy their vote).




https://i.imgflip.com/1qyqk2.jpg

Of course it is more complex than what I posted. I was simply reminding Gene that the US has changed since WW2, and the world has taken up the slack. The reasons are indeed many and varied.