On Future Hiring in the US, September 6, 2010

Manufacturing to be replaced by service industries? As if foreign businesses will not use their own local service providers in support of local industry; and without native industry, there won't be a big bunch of service clients around these parts, not that the numbers of people that could be employed directly or indirectly in manufacturing could ever be absorbed by service firms in any event.

We gleefully trotted out Mr Ricardo's theories when our manufacturing sector was the only game in town and we wanted in to other markets to pour off our excess capacity. Now that we're on the receiving end, we seem to continue to believe our own talking points of yesteryear.

No sensible use of trade policy; no non-military use of industrial planning tools; no acceptable reinvestment in infrastructure; educational opportunities limited by affluence; floodgates open to direct corporate participation in elections (which are as expensive as ever); and the Senate in place to be sure no change occurs that would threaten the interests of anyone currently benefited by the existing state of affairs.

What a mess.

And also, concerning income inequality:

http://liv­e.thenatio­n.com/spec­ial/images­/extreme_i­nequalityc­hart.jpg

In fact, our income inequality levels are such that we are up there with Cameroon and Uruguay!

https://ww­w.cia.gov/­library/pu­blications­/the-world­-factbook/­rankorder/­2172rank.h­tml