Big US corps moved manufacturing to China to save money and destroyed the supply chains that used to exist in the US.
Oops. But at least big shareholders made a lot of money, and GDP is up!!
(I don't think most people realize how easy it is for China to f*k with the US for this very reason. Yeah, they'd also be shooting themselves in the foot, but they're a country that might be willing to do that if they had to, because they don't have elections to worry about.)
Shareholders made tons of money and consumers saved tons of money.
People demand cheap shit, and riot over expensive stuff. Hell Trump is arguably in power because people couldn't handle prices increasing since 2020 (despite wages increasing too).
I didn't say Americans cared about Made in USA - any more than they care that WalMart destroyed small down America.
And by the time they wonder where the jobs all went and start griping about it, it's too late.
But it was a deliberate decision to offshore manufacturing that started the process (you can't sell cheaper goods until you start making cheaper goods abroad). Americans didn't switch from Kraft or Whirlpool or whatever to some Chinese brand. US companies offshored production.
I remember the 90s before China joined the WTO and things did feel “more expensive”, the rise of Chinese production definitely led to lower prices and basically tamed inflation for a couple of decades.
Oops. But at least big shareholders made a lot of money, and GDP is up!!
(I don't think most people realize how easy it is for China to f*k with the US for this very reason. Yeah, they'd also be shooting themselves in the foot, but they're a country that might be willing to do that if they had to, because they don't have elections to worry about.)