Globalization

When WW 2 ended the US controlled the seas and this opened the door to international trade and thus begins the modern version of globalization. The US told the world that their ships would be protected and in return the US wanted to isolate the Soviets. Thus began the greatest expansion in economic growth the world has ever seen. The upside is that more than a billion people, mostly in Asia, were brought out of poverty and that supply chains were developed so that countries around the world were closely connected not only economically but financially. In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed the situation changed. During that time a new danger to the US came on the scene as China grew into a world power. China was the child of American business. By the turn of the century the US realized it had created a potential enemy and the first feelings of anti globalism surfaced. People realized that the good manufacturing jobs had left the country and the middle class was in decline. It was a process that started in the 1960's but didn't come to everyone's attention until after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The pandemic made everyone aware of the danger to the supply chains of this international trade and the mood is now to bring back the jobs and disconnect from China. This America first idea is promoted by both Trump and Biden and most of the middle income workers in the country. The winners of the global economy were the rich and the high techies. While globalization helped the super poor out of poverty the super rich got richer and the demand for STEM types grew rapidly. The losers were the American middle income people who lost their manufacturing jobs. The mood of the country has shifted and this coming election will be a push for make American first.