Reshoring

One of my favorite economist is Milton Friedman. He was the great proponent of free trade saying that if country A can make quality widgets better than anyone else, then they should make the widgets. This makes good sense assuming that each country plays by the rules. When China was allowed into the world markets they used unethical ways to gain an advantage over their competing countries. First off they stole proprietary information and used that to build their new and improved steel plants. Second they sold yuan and bought dollars to lower the cost of their exports, (currency manipulation), third they used government funds to subsidize industries like steel and dump steel on the open market at prices below cost. Forth they have no concern for worker safety or the environment. They even use the slave labor of the Uyghers and child labor. One of the best examples of the adverse effects of globalization is the US steel industry. American steel industry was growing rapidly and by 1940 the US was producing more than half of the World's steel. The industry employed 700,000 workers thru the 1950's and 60's. Today the industry employs 83,000.The people who worked in the steel industry had good union wages, benefits like pension, healthcare, vacation, sick leave, life insurance, disability insurance and paid holidays. When they lost their jobs they lost the living wage along with all the benefits. They ended up working at jobs with half the pay and no benefits. They wanted help but too many people where making too much money to listen to their needs. Globalization allowed big corporations to make great profits at the expense of working people but no one cared. From 1970 to 2018, the share of aggregate income going to middle-class households fell from 62% to 43%. Over the same period, the share held by upper-income households increased from 29% to 48%.Jan 9, 2020 The country is now bringing back the manufacturing jobs in a process called reshoring. This lowers transportation cost and shortens supply chains. It means that the working people will once again have good jobs.