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I don't think its any of the above....in particular. This is what I think. After WWII, all the major economies of the world were destroyed due to the war.....except the US. The war was never fought on our land (ignoring Pearl Harbor), preserving our infrastructure, economy and everything. This created an economic "bubble/boom" for the US economy that was primarily based upon manufacturing at that time. The world needed our goods. The world needed our financing. We were the only intact major economy that could export and provide credit to the world.
The period after the war, consequently, created great global demand for products produced in the "rust belt", otherwise known as the industrial areas of the country. Millions of people flocked to the "Industrial belt" due to an insatiable demand for workers to build the products to supply the world. Times were so good and competition so great for workers, that high wages and great benefits resulted. Even sectors of the economy in the regions not related to manufacturing paid good wages as they had to compete for workers. Unions could ask for much for their workers and the companies, rich in profits due to domestic and global demand, could afford to give it. Hence, the standard of living of the region skyrocketed. We became the worlds largest net exporter and creditor nation, thanks largely to the "rust belt".
Those boom times were totally unsustainable and were built off the misfortunes created from war. Hence, a period of global peace, without a world war (involving and devastating economies) dismantled the monopoly the US gained following WWII. Eventually all the previous global powers economies recovered and as they did it increased competition for US companies and products. Our monopoly, after the war, created inflated wages and goods of questionable quality. Other countries, like Japan and Germany, restarted their manufacturing producing many goods at higher quality, taking market share from US companies that had become complacent due to having a global monopoly. Other countries did not need to import US goods, because they were making their own and they were making products so good that Americans started choosing those goods over American goods.
The change of China from a fully communist economy to a quasi capitalist economy controlled by a communist government was the straw that broke the back of US manufacturing. Goods could be produced at much cheaper wages in China than they could in the US. The Chinese also gained the know how to build what the US could build. With their know how and cheaper labor, this further threatened US manufacturers who then felt it was in their best interest to utilize cheap labor to be able to compete with foreign companies who had access to cheap labor. The industrial belt had the most expensive labor cost to due concessions granted during the boom times. Hence, first manufacturing went to the US South.....then it found even cheaper sources by going to Mexico and China to build products, all to the detriment of the industrial belt.
The so called "rust belt" is the REAL America. What I mean by that is the "rust belt" is what America in general would look like if not for massive government and consumer debt. The TRUE state of America is the rust belt. The sun belt is financed in the era of massive debt accumulation. The US went from having the worlds largest next exports and largest creditor to other nations (the era of the rust belt growth) to running the worlds largest trade deficit and being the largest debtor nation in the world (the era of sun belt growth).
You are absolutely correct with the exception of your last paragraph. The real America looks like what we make it look like. You can point to the depressed places like Detroit or Youngstown that used to boom with industry and say that their natural state is what they look like today, or you can drive through places like Silicon Valley or Austin Texas or Minneapolis where business is booming and say that’s the real America.
No way I'd vote in this poll as it contains none of the real factors that led to the decline.
The biggest factor was our unwillingness to invest in the R&D needed to modernize the technology for primary metals and general manufacturing. All of the R&D was focused on bright and shiny projects for ARPA and the DOD while American industry was left behind in the dust.
The other factor is that American corporations chased short term profit and quarterly results on Wall Street rather than investing in 20 year/ 50 year plans for long term profitability. Essentially we decide to chase short term dollars. While we did that competitors all over the world took the opportunity to jump ahead of us.
Last edited by GearHeadDave; 01-08-2019 at 07:22 AM..
No way I'd vote in this poll as it contains none of the real factors that led to the decline.
The biggest factor was our unwillingness to invest in the R&D needed to modernize the technology for primary metals and general manufacturing. All of the R&D was focused on bright and shiny projects for ARPA and the DOD while American industry was left behind in the dust.
The other factor is that American corporations chased short term profit and quarterly results on Wall Street rather than investing in 20 year/ 50 year plans for long term profitability. Essentially we decide to chase short term dollars. While we did that competitors all over the world took the opportunity to jump ahead of us.
I definitely agree with this. I do also think the Government had a hand in it as well. Our corporations here had the new mantra of "we aren't here to produce and sell the best widgets we can, we are here to make money) , once that happened things just went down hill. At least for the American worker. The corporations are doing fine, and the middle classes that have developed in the low cost countries are happy.
It's a travesty what's happened in the Rust Belt in the past 30 years with the loss of the American Dream. An especially tragic situation where communities and families who used to be very well off making an honest living are now in dire straits. I know that even President Trump can only do so much to bring jobs back to America and revitalize these communities but only he can do so much.
The poverty of the Rust Belt is especially tragic since these are often formerly middle class people who have seen all hope disappear, unlike the generational poverty in some other parts of the country. I'm from the Deep South and there's a lot of poverty among the black population here but many of them have always lived in poverty and is everything they know. Same with the impoverished immigrant communities of California and the Texas border regions, all they've known is the hard life in Latin America and anything in America is better. It's especially difficult for someone who has known better days to lose everything due to factors often beyond their control.
This is interesting because I've lived many years in West Virginia and the Baltimore region which are outposts of the Rust Belt in a way, with the closure of multiple coal mines in WV and the completely destruction of the steel and automaking industries in Baltimore during my lifetime.
Many factors have contributed to the economic ruin of these areas in the past 30 years. Which of these do YOU think is most prominent?
Foreign steel dumping paired with overseas jobs outsourcing. Living wages in China, India, Russia, Turkey, etc. are much lower than in the United States.
None of the above. Competition. Consumer selection of lower priced goods drove retailers to source from lower priced manufacturers which, in turn, drove production of goods off shore in search of lower wages and operating overhead. Your basic Adam Smith stuff.
But once again, it was government policies that ALLOWED these companies to move overseas and ship their products back to America. And unfair policies that promoted this. If production was barred from moving overseas this wouldn't have happened. We could have used our previously dominant position in the world to negotiate deals where its difficult for foreign made products to enter the United States but much easier for our stuff to be exported. For example if we were to only provide military protection of certain countries if they purchased our products, etc etc
It's a travesty what's happened in the Rust Belt in the past 30 years with the loss of the American Dream. An especially tragic situation where communities and families who used to be very well off making an honest living are now in dire straits. I know that even President Trump can only do so much to bring jobs back to America and revitalize these communities but only he can do so much.
The poverty of the Rust Belt is especially tragic since these are often formerly middle class people who have seen all hope disappear, unlike the generational poverty in some other parts of the country. I'm from the Deep South and there's a lot of poverty among the black population here but many of them have always lived in poverty and is everything they know. Same with the impoverished immigrant communities of California and the Texas border regions, all they've known is the hard life in Latin America and anything in America is better. It's especially difficult for someone who has known better days to lose everything due to factors often beyond their control.
This is interesting because I've lived many years in West Virginia and the Baltimore region which are outposts of the Rust Belt in a way, with the closure of multiple coal mines in WV and the completely destruction of the steel and automaking industries in Baltimore during my lifetime.
Many factors have contributed to the economic ruin of these areas in the past 30 years. Which of these do YOU think is most prominent?
Um, you don't mention either of the two phenomena that I think caused the decline of the Rust Belt - continuing industrialization and competition in the global marketplace as other nations recovered from WWII.
Many people buried their heads in the sand here. Including politicians at all levels and presidents. It's a mystery to me why so many people thought - and still think - that the US was in complete and total control of either of these factors.
It's a travesty what's happened in the Rust Belt in the past 30 years with the loss of the American Dream. An especially tragic situation where communities and families who used to be very well off making an honest living are now in dire straits. I know that even President Trump can only do so much to bring jobs back to America and revitalize these communities but only he can do so much.
The poverty of the Rust Belt is especially tragic since these are often formerly middle class people who have seen all hope disappear, unlike the generational poverty in some other parts of the country. I'm from the Deep South and there's a lot of poverty among the black population here but many of them have always lived in poverty and is everything they know. Same with the impoverished immigrant communities of California and the Texas border regions, all they've known is the hard life in Latin America and anything in America is better. It's especially difficult for someone who has known better days to lose everything due to factors often beyond their control.
This is interesting because I've lived many years in West Virginia and the Baltimore region which are outposts of the Rust Belt in a way, with the closure of multiple coal mines in WV and the completely destruction of the steel and automaking industries in Baltimore during my lifetime.
Many factors have contributed to the economic ruin of these areas in the past 30 years. Which of these do YOU think is most prominent?
You forgot the most important reason: The increasing prevalence of air conditioning and, thus, the weather.
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