What should the US do about the job drain?

[Case]

It's somewhat bemusing to see that the US is going through the same loss of manufacturing jobs angst that Australia went through in the 80s and early 90s.

Perhaps the most relevant lesson the US could take from Australia's experiance is that you should cut back on the numbers of unskilled immigrants you allow into the country. If your immigrants don't have economically useful skills, then all you're doing is importing unemployment. In contrast, if your immigrants have skills then you import employment. In economic terms, It's probably better to not meet your immigration quotas then it is to let unskilled immigrants in these days.

Incidently, the Australian experiance has been that while the number of people employed in the manufacturing industry has fallen, the actual manufacturing output has increased (not counting the stuff produced overseas by Australian firms). Combined with the boom in the service industries, this has ment that Australia has enjoyed excelent economic conditions since about 1995.

Of course, this is cold comfort for the tens of thousands of Australians forced into early retirement or unpalatable jobs by the decline in manufacturing jobs.

[Whoha]

Yes output with manufacturing is going up for the time being, but that does not change the fact that 600 billion is flowing out of the country, and only coming back to buy up debt or assets. Thats unsustainable no matter how you want to look at it.

[pchang]

Sure it is

Perhaps you weren't around during the 80's when the Japanese were buying up American real estate, businesses, art collections, etc. like there was no tomorrow. Well, they ended up selling them back to their original AMerican owners at huge losses just a few years later. Thisgs tend to balance out on their own without any need for external intervention.

[Urban Ranger]

I thought Sony still owns Univeral?

[Whoha]

so a total collapse of the rest of the world is our only hope?

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
I thought Sony still owns Univeral?

Nope, Vivendi does.

[Urban Ranger]

Who owns Vivendi?

[Spiffor]

Various Shareholders I suppose. I think it is an "independent" company, as far as you can be independent from your shareholders.

Edit: here's the board of directors.

[pchang]

Originally posted by Whoha
so a total collapse of the rest of the world is our only hope?

Hardly. We are just talking about relative changes in strength. You don't have to fall backward to have someone else catch up. You just have to be moving slower.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Case
It's somewhat bemusing to see that the US is going through the same loss of manufacturing jobs angst that Australia went through in the 80s and early 90s.

Perhaps the most relevant lesson the US could take from Australia's experiance is that you should cut back on the numbers of unskilled immigrants you allow into the country. If your immigrants don't have economically useful skills, then all you're doing is importing unemployment. In contrast, if your immigrants have skills then you import employment. In economic terms, It's probably better to not meet your immigration quotas then it is to let unskilled immigrants in these days.

Incidently, the Australian experiance has been that while the number of people employed in the manufacturing industry has fallen, the actual manufacturing output has increased (not counting the stuff produced overseas by Australian firms). Combined with the boom in the service industries, this has ment that Australia has enjoyed excelent economic conditions since about 1995.

Of course, this is cold comfort for the tens of thousands of Australians forced into early retirement or unpalatable jobs by the decline in manufacturing jobs.

Technology improvements, efficiency improvements, and productivity improvments, the bugbears of socialism and communism.