Having come from the automation industry I speak with first hand knowledge of the opportunities auto companies (among MANY others) that always had the opportunity to auto mate their factories just as the Japanese did. However, between the unions and the company's short term profit greed, the monies were never allocated to save those jobs in the first place.

There were studies done to promote the facts that as American industry automated itself to an efficiency as good or better than the foreign companies, their volumes could in fact go up, hence saving (the saving of jobs) but not 100%. Due to the increased demand the increased demand for automation industry products, software and services would have created new job opportunities.

Under these differing scenarios America's manufacturing base would not have been shipped over seas. So you say the foreign companies build a better product. Yes, the did and do. It is the automation that allows the better product to be built at a lessor cost.....enough to cover shipping to the USA and still make a handsome profit.

No mystery what so ever in the job loss cause. The United States manufacturing companies DID NOT INVEST IN THE AUTOMATION OF THEIR INDUSTRY.

It is a proven fact that companies with the newest manufacturing base with maximized automation, software and services are the survivors. I personally witnessed automation assembly lines in Japan where there were robots assembling robots....not science fiction. Jobs being created by making what was not made before, more efficiently than any where else in the world. The building, the running, the computing, the servicing needs to be done by .....PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!
The improved manufacturing base efficiency begets more jobs and more efficiencies.

The American narrow minded short term profit mentality (loyalty to the investor and self not the industry) of of American companies spelled their respective demise.

Where were all the smooth talking, politicians.... job creators-job savers in Washington when they could have saved their states companies? jobs? Taking care of politics of course.

The solutions are simple. Do not allow short term measurements and politicians rule the direction of the company. Unfortunately that is what it is and is not likely to change.

I am glad to have lived my working life during a time in America when it was growing and protecting it's manufacturing base.

What is upsetting about our current DO NOTHING to really create jobs is that it is so easy to do IF the politics and SPECIAL INTERESTS (namely oil) are set aside.
One very simple example. Energy independence. New oil wells, new wind machines, new fracturing of trillions of barrels of oil and gas and coal, etc. If this were the pririty can you mentally extrapolate to a point where there would be a job creation swelling in this country that could eclipse our previous industrial revolution. But we are not doing it. WHY?

See cabo 35's post about fracturing in this forum.

What a shame. We the people COULD make it happen....but it is unlikely.

btk