Growing trade deficit is selling the nation out from under us (2003) [pdf]

Americans should study Germany and Japan. Do their economies look healthy? Are those manufacturing jobs attractive? Are the Germans and the Japanese richer? Do Germany and Japan have good economic prospects? I'll spare you the research. The answer is, "No". Turns out, having an economy based on manufacturing high-end door knobs in 2025 is not great. Economic growth and innovation is not there, because there is so much growth and innovation that you can eke out of high-end door knobs. These enterprises are great for the families that own them, but they employ a relatively low number of workers, those jobs do not pay that much, and they exist is a steady-state. Well, only until China and India figure out how to also manufacture high-end door knobs.

> Do their economies look healthy?

It's all relative. Relative to what? I think its healthier than it would have been had there been no manufacturing at all.

> Are those manufacturing jobs attractive?

Not all but some are for sure. I'm sure there are enough people working for Volkswagen, BMW or Bosch that earn well and prefer working for them than doing something else.

> Are the Germans and the Japanese richer?

Again, richer than what? I think they're richer than they would have been had they not been manufacturing anything. If you're asking whether they're richer than Americans, no they're not, but that's mostly due to historical reasons (U.S dollar is the world reserve currency).

OK, let's put it this way. You would struggle to buy a house if you worked at VW assembling cars. You would be able to rent an apartment and have a relatively good if modest existence. Nothing close to what Americans are able to afford.

But if you wanted to create blue collar jobs and if the government was going to step in and contort the economy with heavy handed measures, anyway, then just setup a public works program and build a bunch of housing, build and maintain energy and transport infrastructure, build climate mitigation projects. That would actually address a real demand and make a whole lot of sense.

What fucking Americans are you talking about? Sure we got the most billionaires in the world but how many millennials and younger cohorts can't and won't ever afford homes?