patrick.net

Yes, a long time ago, manufacturing collapsed in the lakes/midwest regions, for cheaper destinations abroad or down south with fewer union shops.

Then, during the lofty 90s, it was projected that eventually, everyone would be a so-called Knowledge Worker and while that was beginning to happen, circa 1998-2000 ... then the dot com bubble collapsed and soon ... only those with the 'right' experiences, connections, etc, would be hired by the IT sectors. The outsourcing centers in India, China, eastern Europe, etc, took this area by storm making barriers of entry, difficult for many career changers past the age of 40.

From there forth, the white collar world (having never started with a unionized model) seized to give any type of job or career protection for its adherents. The Hillary Clintons and Joe Bidens of the world have constantly harped that by getting a degree from let's say 'Yale Law School' or perhaps, 'Engineering at MIT/Caltech' that anyone could have a job.

Ok, but not everyone is 20 years old and two, those types of programs accept perhaps less than 10% of their applicants.

Many ppl will have to look into trades (limited by apprenticeship opportunities), health care support, or some ancillary office support which hasn't been automated.

In effect, the Trump economy has accepted that latter world where yes, education (outside of Yale Law School) means DICK and thus, some level of stateside economic activity, even if it simply means repatriating funds from abroad for bigger dividend checks or perhaps, refurbishing an office wing, adding a wing to a defense contractor, etc, will still have a greater effect on local economies as food delivery, repair services, and other assistance industries (even AAA road side assistance counts here, if ppl are forced to drive between gigs) will still need to support these activities.

And NO, the govt can't get companies to invest in R&D, that's entirely up to the C-suite and their cronies unless you want a centrally planned economy ala communism.

In conclusion, don't blame Trump for the economy which started with Carter/Reagan and ended with GWB.

Fuck you Democrats and your buddies at Yale Law!