Comment by ytoawwhra92
1 day ago
OTOH US manufacturing employment declined by ~30% in less than a decade starting in 2000 and the country is still reeling from the fallout. I suspect it will be several decades still until the social problems caused by that economic shift are resolved, if they ever are.
In the UK, many families who were plunged into poverty during the 1980s have yet to recover.
So if history is any guide, I don't think it's a sure thing at all that everyone will have time to adjust.
Those jobs didn't disappear, they moved.
Manufacturing jobs peaked in the US in 1978 at ~20 million, down to ~12 million currently.
Current manufacturing jobs in China are now ~85 million.
If you were a human working in US manufacturing the 90s what's the difference?
And yet, US median wages have gone up from 2000 to 2023: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html
In 2000, median wages were ~$21,000. In 2023, it was ~$43,000 (adjusted for inflation, that's ~$24,000 in year 2000 dollars).
Yes, of course, some people will not be able to adapt (through no fault of their own). But as a whole, the economy is better now than it was in 2000.
Who cares about the economy if you're one of the folks who got left behind, is my point. Aggregate wages being higher hasn't solved the social problems in the Rust Belt.