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America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

nytimes.com

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Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#51

Post by javajosh »

fermienrico wrote: post #2

I wish Silicon Valley wasn’t just about software, particularly adtech. Some of the most brilliant minds are working on optimizing click ratios. There is some hardware tech (Apple, nVidia, Intel, Tesla), but vast majority of the engineers are working on cushy jobs paying $400k to serve ads. SV should be leading investments in Semiconductors, automation and manufacturing tech. It doesn’t even live up to its name. If yo…

Money wants to make more money. And it doesn't care about national boundaries. It also isn't good at pricing catastrophes like the collapse-of-the-US-financial-system-because-of-the-collapse-of-the-electrical-grid catastrophe that we can't recover from because we can't make the transforms anymore and China won't sell them to us and our ports won't work without computers anyway, and so on.

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#52

Post by iphorde »

habosa wrote: post #25
nikanj wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stock market and housing prices are higher than ever, so a large part of the population is doing good. Not just the elites have benefited from the spoils, people with retirement portfolios and paid-off houses are sitting nice and flush.

84% of wealth in the stock market is in the hands of the top 10% Not sure about housing.

Yea, this isn't true. Most of the money in the markets are from the average Joe's 401k, or pension. Wealthy people put their wealth to work in private equity, or venture capital.

I am just disgusted at how incompetent people are, and how they reiterate what they heard from CNN, Foxnews, or morons like Ron Paul.

Now, Banks, and Funds manage large amounts of cash, but again, Pensions and 401k's make up the most of it.

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#53

Post by Tycho »

MartianSquirrel wrote: post #27
Tycho wrote: post #4

At a certain point, does automation/robotics swing the manufacturing base back towards the west?

Yes, but no. Automation could, should and will bring back more manufacturing towards the west, in the sense that the west will produce more goods, in terms of net quantity/value compared to today. It does not necessarily mean more jobs. It does not mean the west will produce a higher percentage of global products. Paul Krugman, amongst others, has written about the subject, I will try to link articles once I get home…

Might not mean more jobs in the west, but I suppose it will mean less jobs for the east.

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#54

Post by WillPostForFood »

Kranar wrote: post #41
habosa wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

84% of wealth in the stock market is in the hands of the top 10% Not sure about housing.

I did not believe this to be true, but after researching it turns out that your figure is accurate for 2016 and that it's likely only gotten worse since then. Page 19 of this document produced by the NBER states that indeed, the wealthiest 10% own 84% of all publicly traded stocks, mutual funds, trusts, or various pension account assets: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24085/w240... It has many othe…

67.4% of Americans own a home. You don't need to be in the be in the top 10% to benefit.

https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#55

Post by viburnum »

recursivedoubts wrote: post #6

We were sold down the river by our own elites, particularly on Wall Street and with the full complicity of the Economics Departments of the west. "Comparative Advantage", something something about corn and wool, meanwhile the whole supply chain was moved to China, our middle class was decimated and we went into tremendous amounts of debt to pretend everything was fine... Left, right... whatever. The elites have faile…

Comparative advantage never made any sense. It's a model of a world without technology, without supply chains, without increasing returns to scale, and only two countries.

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#56

Post by bmitc »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #14
Tycho wrote: post #4

At a certain point, does automation/robotics swing the manufacturing base back towards the west?

Unlikely in our lifetime. The same automation will be available in the east, but with cheaper technicians, electricity, taxes, regulation, and land.

Also, what is there to automate in the U.S.? Most of what could be a target of automation is already in China.

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#57

Post by jmisavage »

nikanj wrote: post #18
fermienrico wrote: post #2

I wish Silicon Valley wasn’t just about software, particularly adtech. Some of the most brilliant minds are working on optimizing click ratios. There is some hardware tech (Apple, nVidia, Intel, Tesla), but vast majority of the engineers are working on cushy jobs paying $400k to serve ads. SV should be leading investments in Semiconductors, automation and manufacturing tech. It doesn’t even live up to its name. If yo…

Apple: Made by Foxconn, not in the US. nVidia: Made by TSMC, not in the US. Intel and Tesla are made in the US afaik, but even the hardware startups we do have still tend to manufacture abroad.

Intel is global they have fabs in Israel, Ireland, and China too.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000...

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#58

Post by Kranar »

nicoburns wrote: post #35
nikanj wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stock market and housing prices are higher than ever, so a large part of the population is doing good. Not just the elites have benefited from the spoils, people with retirement portfolios and paid-off houses are sitting nice and flush.

So there's also a generational divide. This isn't a good thing.

Well of course there is a generational divide and it's a great thing and exactly what one should expect.

Someone who is 60 years old has had approximately 30-35 years worth of time to invest and accumulate assets compared to someone 30 years old who has only had 5-10 years worth of time.

What would you have expected to see in the alternative?

Re: America Can’t Even Produce the Things It Invented

#60

Post by iphorde »

adamnemecek wrote: post #45
iphorde wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those Elites are back in power in a few days. Enjoy it. America voted for it.

The elites have been in power since idk when.

Right, the one guy trying to knock it all down, you decide to vote out of office, because the Elites said he was racist. Bravo! Typical stupid Americans doing exactlt what the Elites want.
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