Comment by bun_at_work | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bun_at_work | Hacker News Reader

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Just calling out that worker protections and increased labor costs seem to be the result of workers making more money. As the work force becomes wealthier, they _need_ less money, and their standards rise. This means their labor becomes more expensive and they demand safer workplaces. They demand more time off. This happened in the USA and is currently happening in China and other low-labor-cost nations.

I think the person you responded to is right. The USA can and should restore its manufacturing base, for many reasons. The whole country would greatly benefit from the return of blue-collar jobs.

I don't have sources for this, but the info is out there.

Also, there are a lot of nuances around this topic that I'm not getting into here. Just want to acknowledge that...

Sure, but it's worth inquiring why the jobs left in the first place.

There's probably a few hundred reasons, but I think the core one was "manufacturing in China is cheaper because labor is cheaper."

Even if China starts demanding better worker protection (and they should! I am actually fine with my products costing more if I have a guarantee that the workers were treated well), I think that there's still a reasonably high chance that manufacturing would still move to another developing country that doesn't.

The core reasons the jobs left are industrial and monetary policies.

Or, said another way, because the Chinese prioritized and subsidized manufacturing growth and we did the opposite.

Why? Because it made some specific Americans very rich. It also ruined the lives of many other Americans. While making the country much less resilient to shocks or conflicts.

Which is, of course, the problem.

The why is not trivial to explain, but it's related to the petrodollar system. It's good for the USA if we create markets with countries that are developing by moving manufacturing there, because it helps them acquire the dollars that they need to buy energy on the international market. This helps the USA maintain global hegemony.

Again, my comment here is super simplified.

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