reply on: Does the US have Dutch disease? \ stacker news ~econ

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42 sats \ 5 replies \ @Aardvark 8h \ parent \ on: Does the US have Dutch disease? econ

Exporting the dollar has definitely impacted manufacturing in this country. It's the driving force behind the trade deficit, so I suppose it fits the description. Manufacturing has been taking a beating since the 80s

42 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 8h

Manufacturing jobs have taken a beating. There's still a lot of manufacturing in the US.

42 sats \ 3 replies \ @Aardvark 8h

Well, there were like 19 to 20 million manufacturering jobs in 1980 compared to 12 million now. Also, for every manufacturing jobs created, roughly 2.2 jobs are supported.

I'm not sure what actually counts as Dutch disease, but there's a major sector in this country that's obviously suffering.

42 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 8h

The amount of stuff manufactured kept growing though. That could just be the normal course of technological progress, like how we produce more agriculture than ever despite a 90%+ reduction in farmers.

42 sats \ 1 reply \ @Aardvark 8h

If that were the case, then I don't think we would be in a trade deficit and certainly not for decades.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 8h

There certainly might be a relationship between those things, but I'm not sure there has to be.

I think it's more that exporting dollars causes a trade deficit and poor countries subsidize their export manufacturing industries. Since they rely on labor intensive manufacturing, America is left specializing in high-tech processes.