From: GERALD LEVY (gerald_a_levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Mon Dec 31 2007 - 08:16:58 EST
> It is unfair to say that you knew all this 20 years ago. 20 years ago the USA had not seen the sharp fall in manufacturing Hi Paul C: The trend regarding manufacturing in the US was already visible (and widely discussed on the Left) in the late 1970s. At the time, this was often referred to as "de-industrialization" and unions were already alarmed by the "outsourcing" of production. > and the sharp rise in Chinese imports that it now has. This wasn't that hard to foresee. The "reforms" of the Deng period, including the creation of 'special' (free trade) zones, helped to usher in what has come later and many analysts (especially business economists) foresaw in outline form what came next. What they overestimated, though, was the growth of disposable income per family in the PRC and demand for goods produced in other countries. In other words, there was an over-estimation of the growth of the internal market in the PRC and the extent to which the standard of living for most of the population would rise. > Paula Cerni rightly lays emphasis on the unproductive character of much of the US economy and it dependence on productive labor > perfomed overseas. This is much more marked than it was 20 years ago. It might be better to examine Fred's writings on this topic since it has the advantage of being based more on empirical investigation. In solidarity, Jerry PS: *HAPPY NEW YEAR!* Thanks to you and others on the list, this has been a very successful year for OPE-L in which there were many stimulating and rewarding discussions about important (and sometimes not so important) topics in political economy.
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