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U.S. Standard of Living has dropped 57% in 40 years

The death of US Manufacturing is a bit overstated.

The main findings are:
• The United States remained the largest manufacturing country in 2010, although
its share of global manufacturing activity has declined in recent years.
• Manufacturing output has grown more rapidly in the United States over the past
decade than in most European countries and Japan, although it has lagged China,
Korea, and other countries in Asia.
• Employment in manufacturing has fallen in most major manufacturing countries
over the past two decades. The United States saw a disproportionately large drop
between 2000 and 2010, but its decline in manufacturing employment since 1990
is in line with the changes in several European countries and Japan.
• U.S. manufacturers spend far more on research and development (R&D) than
those in any other country, but manufacturers’ R&D spending is rising more
rapidly in China, Korea, Mexico, and Taiwan.
• A large share of manufacturing R&D in the United States takes place in hightechnology
sectors, particularly pharmaceutical and electronic instrument
manufacturing, whereas in other countries a far greater proportion of
manufacturers’ R&D outlays occur in medium-technology sectors such as motor
vehicle and machinery manufacturing.
 
Deacon923 said:
There is a link between the lack of manufacturing jobs, poor education, and the income inequality between rich and poor. The companies that are moving jobs to Asia or replacing them with technology are highly profitable, and those profits flow to the rich people who own most of the stock and to the executives who get very lurcrative pay packages. Many of those companies could share some of those profits with their workers, or hire more unskilled workers and train them instead of expecting the government to train their workforce, and still be profitable, just not as profitable as they are now. Furthermore, poor people are more difficult to educate. Profitable corporations and the wealthier segments of society could agree to higher taxes to improve our education system or provide other public goods to help the poor improve their lot, but by and large they do not.

I am not suggesting or advocating for a legislative restriction on profitability or mandatory hiring or anything like that, I post simply to point out that it is disingenuous to state that there is no link between income inequality and the lack of manufacturing jobs and poor education.
Click to expand...

Where did I say that? I said that "the relativity between the rich and poor is mostly irrelevant". It is not a closed system. If the average worker makes $100 while one dude makes $1 billion, that relative inequality has absolutely nothing to do with the standard of living of the people making $100. The purchasing power of their $100 for common-use goods and services is not correlated in any way to his $1 billion, it is correlated to the average income of everyone else in the world vying for those same common-use goods and services. Using domestic outliers to condemn the domestic average is just stupid.
 
PhilliesDeacs said:
Two sides of the same coin. Poor people stay poor (or become poorer) because the education system is shit and quality jobs are moving elsewhere. Oh, and who do you think is making the decisions to underfund education and build plants overseas? The poor?
Click to expand...

You did not spell "mismanage" correctly. Per pupil spending says hi. As do pensions for manifestly incompetent, untouchable teachers.
 
WakeandBake said:
but it's because of the destruction of dual-parent families fueled by the safety net which is part of the Democratic conspiracy to keep blacks poor and voting D.

jhmd, hip these squares to the truth, baby
Click to expand...

It's much easier to raise your standard of living when you have a bunch of children out of wedlock. Everyone knows this fact.

eta: To the repper, do you aspire for your own son to be the absentee father of children with different mothers in different households? Do you aspire for your daughter to raise the children of multiple men without any assistance from their fathers? Do you disagree with the economic analysis of the point I'm trying to make? The moral one? If neither, then why is that unacceptable result okay for someone else's child?
 
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Spot the Wonder said:
The death of US Manufacturing is a bit overstated.

The main findings are:
• The United States remained the largest manufacturing country in 2010, although
its share of global manufacturing activity has declined in recent years.
• Manufacturing output has grown more rapidly in the United States over the past
decade than in most European countries and Japan, although it has lagged China,
Korea, and other countries in Asia.
• Employment in manufacturing has fallen in most major manufacturing countries
over the past two decades. The United States saw a disproportionately large drop
between 2000 and 2010, but its decline in manufacturing employment since 1990
is in line with the changes in several European countries and Japan.
• U.S. manufacturers spend far more on research and development (R&D) than
those in any other country, but manufacturers’ R&D spending is rising more
rapidly in China, Korea, Mexico, and Taiwan.
• A large share of manufacturing R&D in the United States takes place in hightechnology
sectors, particularly pharmaceutical and electronic instrument
manufacturing, whereas in other countries a far greater proportion of
manufacturers’ R&D outlays occur in medium-technology sectors such as motor
vehicle and machinery manufacturing.
Click to expand...
I thought it was obvious that we weren't losing our manufacturing jobs to Europe or Japan. The problem is that we've lost our low skilled, consumer good manufacturing jobs. There are not enough jobs in the high technology manufacturing field in the U.S to make up for the loss of the lower tech jobs. The R&D money being pumped into high technology doesn't really create low skill jobs either
 
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2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Where did I say that? I said that "the relativity between the rich and poor is mostly irrelevant". It is not a closed system. If the average worker makes $100 while one dude makes $1 billion, that relative inequality has absolutely nothing to do with the standard of living of the people making $100. The purchasing power of their $100 for common-use goods and services is not correlated in any way to his $1 billion, it is correlated to the average income of everyone else in the world vying for those same common-use goods and services. Using domestic outliers to condemn the domestic average is just stupid.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with this post. I am just pointing out that the reason a lot of people have a low income (and by extension, a low standard of living) is because they don't have good jobs and they don't have education. The unwillingness of US companies to reduce profits by paying higher wages and hiring more people is a part of the reason why they don't have those jobs.
 
Deacon923 said:
I don't disagree with this post. I am just pointing out that the reason a lot of people have a low income (and by extension, a low standard of living) is because they don't have good jobs and they don't have education. The unwillingness of US companies to reduce profits by paying higher wages and hiring more people is a part of the reason why they don't have those jobs.
Click to expand...

Somehow people seem to believe job creators have little to do with the lack of jobs.
 
"shadowstats.com"? Just took a quick look see over there. Who knew we had 25% unemployment and 10% inflation? Seems like we have bigger issues than income inequality. Good thread!
 
You should move to one of them. Take a few of your lazy, whining friends with you. You'll like it better, honest. I, and the millions of people trying to come here, tend to bet on America.
 
Deacon923 said:
http://www.epi.org/publication/usa-lags-peer-countries-mobility/

Switzerland, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, New Zealan, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, and Denmark say hi.
Click to expand...

Spain is beating the US and their economy has been in bad shape since 2008.

snapshot-mobility.png
 
jhmd2000 said:
You should move to one of them. Take a few of your lazy, whining friends with you. You'll like it better, honest. I, and the millions of people trying to come here, tend to bet on America.
Click to expand...

This is the message board equivalent of those audience members on the Morton Downey Jr. show that would start chanting "USA!!!111 USA!!!11111"
 
Deacon923 said:
I don't disagree with this post. I am just pointing out that the reason a lot of people have a low income (and by extension, a low standard of living) is because they don't have good jobs and they don't have education. The unwillingness of US companies to reduce profits by paying higher wages and hiring more people is a part of the reason why they don't have those jobs.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I would think that the bolded is relatively obvious. Though to characterize the cause as an "unwillingness" of US companies is asnine. First, the point of a company in capitalist structure is to make a profit, not make jobs. It is the prospecitve employee's responsibility to find his individual position within that economy. That said, and knowing the "but its not his fault, he can't hire himself" comments that will follow point number one, the second point is that the vast majority of those "profits" that companies should supposedly cut would be coming primarily out of the hands of that same middle class that you're trying to protect. Who do you think owns the stock in the companies who are supposed to cut profits? Primarily it is the 401(k)s and IRAs and pension plans and other retirement funds of other people in the same general economic classes. So are you really helping the lower and middle class as a whole by compelling a profit reduction?
 
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