Alabama gets $1.6 billion auto plant

[Anomalocaris]

Do you know what a steamfitter is? You can't shift their work overseas. 

Yes, I do.  And it is irrelevant whether their work can shift overseas.


The question is why is the exact same unremarkable tradecraft is worth $60000 a year in a developed country,  but when done with the the same skill is worth much less in a developing country.

The answer is because in a developed economy, there are a large amount of very high value added activity done by highly educated and skilled labor force.  It is these added value that trickle down into lower skilled tradecraft like steam fitting. The steam fitting trade helps support these high value added activity down stream, and so becomes itself a higher value added activity.

In a developing economy, where there are fewer very high value added activity, either because there are no opportunity for such activity, or not enough highly educated and skilled labor force to undertake these activities even when there are opportunities, the same steam fitting trade can not support as much value addition down stream, so the very same pipe fitting activity becomes itself a lower value added activity.

What trump and the republicans are doing by gutting education at all levels, is to reduce the ability of American economy to support the very high value added activities what are the fundamental reasons of relatively high income possible for lower skill tradecraft like steam fitting.

Put it another way, a Walmart worker in the US get paid much more than a Walmart worker in Africa not because there are more Walmart jobs here, but because there are highly educated and skilled designers of iPhones here.

To make America more prosperous, one does not seek to open more Walmart’s.  One seeks to develop more people with education and skills to bring in huge amounts of value in ways comparable to designing iPhones.

What trump is bragging about is opening more Walmart’s, not creating more companies like Apple.

[John V]

Yes, I do.  And it is irrelevant whether their work can shift overseas.

So you said "Let those jobs flow overseas" because?

The question is why is the exact same unremarkable tradecraft is worth $60000 a year in a developed country,  but when done with the the same skill is worth much less in a developing country.

"Why" is irrelevant. The fact is that there are good-paying jobs available in America now that aren't being taken, and they can't be shifted overseas because they involve work on property in America.

And I know some steamfitters that would kick your ass for talking about their trade that way. While it's not rocket science, it ain't exactly unskilled either.