"When you add to this the fact that most of what we now call manufacturing is largely assembling parts made in foreign countries you can get an even clearer sense of the disaster."
So very much this. As an immediate postwar Boomer (born 1946) in Muncie, IN, I witnessed the terrible transformation of a once brilliant manufacturing region into what is now called the Rust Belt. My home town once supported the largest UAW local in America, thanks to the dozens of auto parts makers in the Muncie-New Castle-Anderson conglomeration. All that is gone now.
America today is not so much a manufacturing nation, as it is an assembly nation. And we've sold off our birthright to a gang of predatory banksters and financiers for a mess of consumer pottage junk.
To me (and many others) the long sellout was a crime beyond measure and those who carried it off were committing a form of slow treason.
I am hopeful that the long nightmare of deindustrialization will be ending soon. Damage done to families and communities across the Rust Belt and beyond is of course irreparable but perhaps our children and grandchildren will have better opportunities now.
The loss of the culture of manufacturing that Vance refers to is huge. I have had a front row seat to the tech industrial build up in Taiwan and SE Asia generally; of course, with the exception of China, these nations were all manufacturing powerhouses prior to gaining MFN status and WTO membership - thanks primarily to Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, assorted Wall Street investment banking sociopaths and the breathtaking corruption of Washington DC. The Asian Tigers have benefitted massively from the changes, Taiwan in particular, at the expense of average Americans. The US did not merely transfer its manufacturing base, but the interactions between tech development and tech manufacturing, as Vance observes, is enormously important.
The justifications used to allowing what amounts to an enormous betrayal by the political/financial elites were specious and they all knew it. They allowed it for the same reasons they continuous undermine the US, money and power - they are all textbook psychopaths as far as I can tell. Bribery and blackmail are the motives for nearly everyone in power in the US, and the result is suffering and degradation that has increased exponentially, everywhere but especially in urban areas. Trump and the America First faction that were vital in his rise to power understand this. It remains to be seen if the America First faction wins ultimately. They cannot win without popular support.
Yes they are definitely sociopathic in their destruction of the nation and its people all for short-term personal gain. As you say we lost our manufacturing culture. I don't know if most people even know what that means.
Americans used to build. We were a nation of artisans, machinists and skilled craftsmen. Now we are assemblers and in many places construction firms use poorly skilled and illegal labor to build shitboxes and perform poor quality repair work.
A few years ago two unskilled Chinese electricians blew up a large 150 year old building on 2nd Avenue near where I live. I've lived in NYC most of my life and I'd never seen anything like this. We've also seen massive cranes collapse and other large explosions over the last decade. ConEd replaced a huge transformer nearby a few years ago and the laborers who cut out the old one were clearly illegals who spoke almost no English.
It's long past time something was done. The big question is whether enough can be done.
Here’s a little anecdote to illustrate why manufacturing is done in Taiwan.
An American, German, Dutch, whatever, engineer overseeing operations at a fab plant needs some part, one that is not kept in inventory, so they have to request one be shipped from The Netherlands, Germany, Japan or the US. This will take minimum of two days.
The communities surrounding the Hsinchu Science Park (TSMC. UMC, etc.) are peppered with mom and pop machinist businesses that might have the latest lathing and machining systems, sometimes just old equipment will work. The engineer from TSMC sends the machinist the specs, the part is delivered to the plant 3 hours later.
There is no reason this can’t happen in the US EXCEPT there are not nearly enough skilled machinists and shops to do stuff like this. So it is not just semiconductor engineers, you have to have a massive support network of engineering techies and skilled tradesmen to keep things moving. Any delay in operation costs millions.
Well, the US is already the second biggest manufacturing nation on the planet.
The two most salient features of the bizarre, obtuse and destructive fantasy proposed by the increasingly senile convicted felon and serial sexual assaulter acting as Putin's Prostitute are:
1) As usual, Trump is telling yet another Big Lie to justify what he's doing. This has ZERO to do with "bringing back manufacturing" to America. This is, once again, all about Trump's "retribution obsession" and his need to feel like a modern day emperor who needs to get "REVENGE" on every single country that has supposedly "screwed us"---which in his ignorant and paranoid mind means absolutely every single "foreign country" on earth. It's all about "getting even" for the tax evader, draft dodger, cheesy ex-TV game show host and Hitler Admirer. Trump is stupid and pathetically ignorant. He undoubtedly thinks that the US is around 55 percent of the global population when the real figure is approximately 4.5 percent. AND
2) Even IF Trump was sincere about his wacko, imaginary fantasy that doesn't mean it would work. There quite literally isn't even ONE economist in the entire world---even at the most conservative universities and think tanks---that believes this jejune mishmosh of insanity mixed with arrogance, xenophobia and infantile self obsession could ever work in anything other than a preschooler's story book. I actually feel for the journalists and commentators who have to shield and downplay the extreme humiliation that Trump has brought upon himself. Any other person proposing such mendacious and moronic tripe would be justifiably mocked and ridiculed for being so obviously dimwitted and oblivious to reality.
To sum up: Trump is lying about WHY he's doing this. It's all about revenge and resentment and his lust to "punish" every single country in the world for what they have supposedly done to America. (With the exception of Russia and North Korea, of course.)
But even if Trump WAS sincere---which he clearly isn't---only the most doltish and uninformed of his indoctrinated groupies, A.K.A. TrumpSuckers---would EVER take this seriously. It REALLY is like something out of the old Three Stooges comedies! (Curly The Economist!)
The only question is how badly will this hurt the American economy and the entire global economic system, and how soon before everything crashes and it's too late to repair the damage anytime soon.
Contrary to your assertions the approach is actually quite sophisticated and elegant.
It would be nice if Democrats would stop acting like hysterics and return to the real world but that is probably too much to ask after eight years of insanity.
I see you feel very strongly about this. And I admire your ability to see into the soul of another person and understand his motivations so thoroughly. However, I pointed out many important points about the outrageous weaknesses in US manufacturing as it currently exists that you thoroughly failed to take into consideration.
The three of us are not alone in identifying the national security implications to the fact that we don't manufacture any of our own antibiotics and other medications; that close to half the components for our weapons come from foreign supply chains for which we have no control over the quantity and pace of manufacture; that we have one artillery shell factory in the entire country; that what you count as manufacturing is really assembly since we don't build componentry except in rare occassions; that, as Vance points out, separating design from manufacture is not a viable way to innovate advanced components and systems; that the US still hasn't fielded a single hypersonic missile design while China, Iran and Russia have moved onto multiple generations of these - and that one of the major reasons for this is US manufacturing expertise is generations behind in development of heat-resistant alloys and other engineering skills required for such systems; I could go on and on and on with further examples of the disaster that is the hollowed out US industrial base but the fact is you know nothing about the subject and wrote a blindingly emotional screed of no substance so I think I'll save my typing fingers for better pursuits.
The only reason I didn't delete your stultifyingly idiotic comment is that it is such a perfect example of the over-emotional nonsense that comes from self-professed intelligent people when they discuss Donald Trump that I leave it here as a warning to others who might want to engage in similar bloviations.
"When you add to this the fact that most of what we now call manufacturing is largely assembling parts made in foreign countries you can get an even clearer sense of the disaster."
So very much this. As an immediate postwar Boomer (born 1946) in Muncie, IN, I witnessed the terrible transformation of a once brilliant manufacturing region into what is now called the Rust Belt. My home town once supported the largest UAW local in America, thanks to the dozens of auto parts makers in the Muncie-New Castle-Anderson conglomeration. All that is gone now.
America today is not so much a manufacturing nation, as it is an assembly nation. And we've sold off our birthright to a gang of predatory banksters and financiers for a mess of consumer pottage junk.
To me (and many others) the long sellout was a crime beyond measure and those who carried it off were committing a form of slow treason.
I am hopeful that the long nightmare of deindustrialization will be ending soon. Damage done to families and communities across the Rust Belt and beyond is of course irreparable but perhaps our children and grandchildren will have better opportunities now.
The loss of the culture of manufacturing that Vance refers to is huge. I have had a front row seat to the tech industrial build up in Taiwan and SE Asia generally; of course, with the exception of China, these nations were all manufacturing powerhouses prior to gaining MFN status and WTO membership - thanks primarily to Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, assorted Wall Street investment banking sociopaths and the breathtaking corruption of Washington DC. The Asian Tigers have benefitted massively from the changes, Taiwan in particular, at the expense of average Americans. The US did not merely transfer its manufacturing base, but the interactions between tech development and tech manufacturing, as Vance observes, is enormously important.
The justifications used to allowing what amounts to an enormous betrayal by the political/financial elites were specious and they all knew it. They allowed it for the same reasons they continuous undermine the US, money and power - they are all textbook psychopaths as far as I can tell. Bribery and blackmail are the motives for nearly everyone in power in the US, and the result is suffering and degradation that has increased exponentially, everywhere but especially in urban areas. Trump and the America First faction that were vital in his rise to power understand this. It remains to be seen if the America First faction wins ultimately. They cannot win without popular support.
Yes they are definitely sociopathic in their destruction of the nation and its people all for short-term personal gain. As you say we lost our manufacturing culture. I don't know if most people even know what that means.
Americans used to build. We were a nation of artisans, machinists and skilled craftsmen. Now we are assemblers and in many places construction firms use poorly skilled and illegal labor to build shitboxes and perform poor quality repair work.
A few years ago two unskilled Chinese electricians blew up a large 150 year old building on 2nd Avenue near where I live. I've lived in NYC most of my life and I'd never seen anything like this. We've also seen massive cranes collapse and other large explosions over the last decade. ConEd replaced a huge transformer nearby a few years ago and the laborers who cut out the old one were clearly illegals who spoke almost no English.
It's long past time something was done. The big question is whether enough can be done.
Here’s a little anecdote to illustrate why manufacturing is done in Taiwan.
An American, German, Dutch, whatever, engineer overseeing operations at a fab plant needs some part, one that is not kept in inventory, so they have to request one be shipped from The Netherlands, Germany, Japan or the US. This will take minimum of two days.
The communities surrounding the Hsinchu Science Park (TSMC. UMC, etc.) are peppered with mom and pop machinist businesses that might have the latest lathing and machining systems, sometimes just old equipment will work. The engineer from TSMC sends the machinist the specs, the part is delivered to the plant 3 hours later.
There is no reason this can’t happen in the US EXCEPT there are not nearly enough skilled machinists and shops to do stuff like this. So it is not just semiconductor engineers, you have to have a massive support network of engineering techies and skilled tradesmen to keep things moving. Any delay in operation costs millions.
Seems like Vance is the one running around getting stuff done while Trump keeps everyone busy.
Vance for sure has more substance. Trump is the Trump Show.
Well, the US is already the second biggest manufacturing nation on the planet.
The two most salient features of the bizarre, obtuse and destructive fantasy proposed by the increasingly senile convicted felon and serial sexual assaulter acting as Putin's Prostitute are:
1) As usual, Trump is telling yet another Big Lie to justify what he's doing. This has ZERO to do with "bringing back manufacturing" to America. This is, once again, all about Trump's "retribution obsession" and his need to feel like a modern day emperor who needs to get "REVENGE" on every single country that has supposedly "screwed us"---which in his ignorant and paranoid mind means absolutely every single "foreign country" on earth. It's all about "getting even" for the tax evader, draft dodger, cheesy ex-TV game show host and Hitler Admirer. Trump is stupid and pathetically ignorant. He undoubtedly thinks that the US is around 55 percent of the global population when the real figure is approximately 4.5 percent. AND
2) Even IF Trump was sincere about his wacko, imaginary fantasy that doesn't mean it would work. There quite literally isn't even ONE economist in the entire world---even at the most conservative universities and think tanks---that believes this jejune mishmosh of insanity mixed with arrogance, xenophobia and infantile self obsession could ever work in anything other than a preschooler's story book. I actually feel for the journalists and commentators who have to shield and downplay the extreme humiliation that Trump has brought upon himself. Any other person proposing such mendacious and moronic tripe would be justifiably mocked and ridiculed for being so obviously dimwitted and oblivious to reality.
To sum up: Trump is lying about WHY he's doing this. It's all about revenge and resentment and his lust to "punish" every single country in the world for what they have supposedly done to America. (With the exception of Russia and North Korea, of course.)
But even if Trump WAS sincere---which he clearly isn't---only the most doltish and uninformed of his indoctrinated groupies, A.K.A. TrumpSuckers---would EVER take this seriously. It REALLY is like something out of the old Three Stooges comedies! (Curly The Economist!)
The only question is how badly will this hurt the American economy and the entire global economic system, and how soon before everything crashes and it's too late to repair the damage anytime soon.
If you want to actually understand the approach the Trump administration has implemented in its tariff regime you should read this post:
https://substack.com/home/post/p-160606963
Contrary to your assertions the approach is actually quite sophisticated and elegant.
It would be nice if Democrats would stop acting like hysterics and return to the real world but that is probably too much to ask after eight years of insanity.
I see you feel very strongly about this. And I admire your ability to see into the soul of another person and understand his motivations so thoroughly. However, I pointed out many important points about the outrageous weaknesses in US manufacturing as it currently exists that you thoroughly failed to take into consideration.
The three of us are not alone in identifying the national security implications to the fact that we don't manufacture any of our own antibiotics and other medications; that close to half the components for our weapons come from foreign supply chains for which we have no control over the quantity and pace of manufacture; that we have one artillery shell factory in the entire country; that what you count as manufacturing is really assembly since we don't build componentry except in rare occassions; that, as Vance points out, separating design from manufacture is not a viable way to innovate advanced components and systems; that the US still hasn't fielded a single hypersonic missile design while China, Iran and Russia have moved onto multiple generations of these - and that one of the major reasons for this is US manufacturing expertise is generations behind in development of heat-resistant alloys and other engineering skills required for such systems; I could go on and on and on with further examples of the disaster that is the hollowed out US industrial base but the fact is you know nothing about the subject and wrote a blindingly emotional screed of no substance so I think I'll save my typing fingers for better pursuits.
The only reason I didn't delete your stultifyingly idiotic comment is that it is such a perfect example of the over-emotional nonsense that comes from self-professed intelligent people when they discuss Donald Trump that I leave it here as a warning to others who might want to engage in similar bloviations.