Earlier quoted context omitted.
> people like the idea of this, but no one actually wants this As others have pointed out, this is not a contradiction. (Read their reply.) However, the question of 'Do YOU want to work in a factory?' is heavily influenced by the fact that we don't see factory work as a high-paying career, or a career at all. Part of the solution to the factory problem is enhancing the value proposition for the employees. I am ambiva…
> If paying domestic workers more raises the price of domestic goods, and if people are willing to pay that price for whatever reason, you will start to see growth in manufacturing. We ran this experiment for decades. It turns out that Americans are not willing to pay the higher prices, which led to our manufacturing consolidating around higher-value items. This notion that we should move Americans from high-producti…
But did we run that experiment while foreign alternatives were nearly or equally expensive? That's the real test, and whether foolish or not that's what they are trying to do with tariffs.
> Lower-productivity jobs mean less income for workers
Are you suggesting former factory workers all became scientists and engineers? If that's true then fantastic. But I'd like to see evidence that what they are doing now is somehow more productive.
> Our poorest states have higher GDPs per capita than many "rich" western EU countries.
Is the result of that a higher median income, or is it a reflection of a higher wealth inequality?