Francois, you are so very right in what you say much of our problem with the loss of manufacturing jobs and capacity to places like China (and plenty of other places too) is rooted in our own desire "the CUSTOMERS desire" for less expensive products. North America has a high standard of living compared to most of the countries where our consumer good are manufactured (or most of the content for those goods) and that is because of the income we expect from employment, there is no way to compete when a worker here (I mean in "the west" in this example) expects a reasonable living wage that is many many times higher than a comparable living wage in a place like China, or India. We have done this to ourselves, our demands as consumers for the lowest possible cost goods have driven the manufacturing sector to seek the lowest possible methods to produce those goods to satsify our demands, and that is where the labor cost is the lowest.
I am not in any way implying this is good or bad, it is just what is happening, we did and continue to do it to ourselves. I know some blame Labor Unions for making unrealistic demands for wages and benefits, and Government for mismanagement and sure those are factors, but (and it is a very big BUT) we all wanted those higher wages and more benefits, and WE have to pay the piper! There has been a shift in our economy over the past 20 years and we have to adjust, it's not easy, but WE WILL ADJUST! Our strength in "The West" if you will (North America, the European Union) is innovation and new ideas, research & development, science, education, all knowledge based, we have to shift our workforce into those industries. I see it happening in my own little part of North America (Atlantic Canada) I live in a city that for over 200 years was mainly industrial - 80% of our employment was blue collar 20 years ago, now that is down to less than 50%. We have a small university campus here that 20 years ago had less than 10 foreign students, this year the student population is over 50% international students coming here to study - THAT is PROGRESS IMHO. We are adjusting here it is painful for many, but it has to be done, and it will have to be done again.
I hope no one thinks I am blaming Unions or foreign workers for anything, I am in my own way responsible for my small part of our economic problems as we all are, we want lower cost goods and a better standard of living, well we have it, but we do have to pay the piper as I said. What we have to do now is use our strengths and adjust our employment and education to put our citizens to work in jobs that pay the wage they demand to support that standard. I have watched the change here in my area, when I moved here unemployment was over 15% and we were very industrial, now 30 years later this city is working toward being an energy hub and knowledge based region, our unemployment has been in the single digits for the past 10 years.
This is just my opinion but I think if we as "westerners" can accept the reality that to maintain the standard of living we demand we have to export the jobs in much of the manufacturing sector and shift our education and employment to knowledge and service based skills.
I'd say thats my 2 ¢, but this post is so long now it must be at least 99 ¢ worth...
