Edwynn
Posts: 4105
Joined: 10/26/2008
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I typed the OP literally in the dark, in my car. I hope people enjoy the stutter spelling of efficiency in the thread title.
On the surface, structural unemployment is due to off-shoring, etc. But if we look at the numbers, all the developed countries are ~ 70% service sector v. manufacturing sector, even Germany and Japan. The US is several percentage points higher, as of 2007 figures, because of the inflated profits of the financial sector, which constituted a grossly disproportionate 40% of GDP at the time. But again, subtract the asset bubble, ( not just housing, as the media persistently focus on), and in terms of any accurate accounting measure, (good luck with that in the US), ~70% service, 30% manufacturing is the norm for modern developed economies.
The problem is not so much loss of manufacturing as much as lack of preparedness for where things are going.
This why Germany, with ~27% the population of the US nevertheless has greater total exports than the US, not just per capita exports. They complain somewhat about the Chinese imports, but they cut it short and figure out how to adapt, instead of wanting to wage economic warfare. Their education system, government-corporate-worker agreements and negotiations, and understanding that the economy is ultimately in service to society (ordoliberalismus) is what keeps them ahead.
The "trinket capitalism," winner-take-all, who cares if the product or service is useful or not, just sell it, mentality in the US is not doing us any favors here.
Especially when almost 40% of the largest corporations pay no tax at least one out of three years. That is the norm.
The complaints about the US corporate taxes being higher than European corporate taxes (however marginally) are a joke, because the European corporations actually pay the taxes.
With all their 'socialism,' Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, kick the US' and UK's arse up and down the street in every meaningful economic measure. Even France does better in terms of output per worker. Oh, and they all work 2-3 hours less per week and have almost twice the avg. vacation time in the year.
But in the US, we must do what the CEOs say, being that they infiltrate the government on a regular basis, e.g. Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Paulson, Robert Rubin, etc.
Adam Smith warned against idolatry of the rich, which inevitably results in their infestation into the government. The current infatuation, man-crushes, woman-crushes, etc. on the wealthiest, just for being the wealthiest (unless their name is Buffett or Soros) is fed by the mainstream media, the nut-job radio media, Fox, CNN, all of them.
This ain't going away anytime soon.
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"private sector effinciency" explained - 
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