obvious Child

All this political election talk about "ending tax credits for companies that ship job overseas" got me thinking. Should we be trying to save those kind of jobs and industries?

Firms leave the US due to labor costs and only after they've exhausted everything else. That says to me that we don't have an advantage in such industries. When the key factor becomes labor, maybe it's time we let those jobs go instead of trying to hold on to them. If America is to succeed in the changing economy, we must excel in different industries then we use to. McCain got it right in Detroit when he said those lost manufacturing jobs are gone.

So should we be trying to save jobs and industries like textiles?

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"Maybe God doesn't care how you say your prayers, just as long as you say them" - Jeffery Sinclair

Scucca

You should be trying to eliminate the demand for low skilled labour. Deindustrialisation is a natural phenomenon for developed nation and, if you embrace the gains from comparative advantage, there is every reason to improve wage structures whilst maintaining employment. You don't manage it because the extremes in your society are Dickensian

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gunner

What do you class as low skilled labour?

I am of the opinion that with the run down of our [UK] manufacturing industry it leaves us susceptible to fluctuations in Foreign markets. Do you not see that as a problem?

Paul.

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Always judge a lady by the contents of her mind, never by the shape of her bum.

Scucca

Sliding scale, ranging from low, intermediate to high. Measuring it isn't actually straight-forward because of the multiple factors involved. We normally will refer to proxies: such as low pay, eduction levels and stagnancy in on-the-job training

We certainly stand out compared to our neighbours. Thatcherism forced us to suffer negative deindustrialisation (where we saw unnatural declines in manufacturing activity generated by monetarism). The remaining industry is too much concentrated on relatively inferior product, with foreign market income reductions hindering exports and leading to substitution of demand to nations with even more acute low wage labour

gunner

So do you know of a country showing positive deindustrialisation?

Paul.

Scucca

The vast majority of developed nations exhibit the phenomenon. The manufacturing sector will naturally decline in importance, given income and productivity enhancement.

We stand out because of right wing folly

gunner

Do the vast majority of nations stand out in a positive way?

What do mean by "productivity enhancement"?

Paul.

Scucca

Deindustralisation certainly has negative features, such as frictional unemployment as training needs catch up with the move of labour from manufacturing to services. However, overall its a welcoming aspect of a mature economy as it refers to higher income.

Productivity improvements in manufacturing, given the ceiling in activity, will naturally lead to the shedding of labour. Twinned with income rises that lead to growth in the demand for services, we have the economy skipping towards the next stage in its development.

Its a shame that the Brits failed to follow the pattern (particularly for their working poverty rate!). Never vote Tory!