Speaking of financialization, this is a gift link to an OpEd piece that ran a few days ago in the New York Times about how financialization has impacted the American economy. The article says that the financial sector “now claims the highest share of corporate profits and attracts the highest share of top talent from top schools, in part by offering the highest compensation. But actual business investment has declined, to an average of 2.9 percent of G.D.P. over the past decade from 5.2 percent in the 1960s.” In other words, we’re not making anything any longer in this country except for financial products. It’s a little depressing.
I guess this general discontent is one of the reasons people voted for trump, and something similar is happening in Europe. More finance, less primary production, about the same agriculture but with much less workforce. Workers feel superfluous.
The production has shifted to Asia, but with low wages, so that they are not satisfied either. The feel exploited.
I don’t see how to solve this. Least of all with private investment measures or consumption patterns like boicotts.
The less industrial production is not particularly accurate. Industry is certainly a much smaller portion of the US GDP, but it’s as high as it’s ever been historically. It’s kinda plateaued since 2008, but in general line continues to go up.
Production though is not jobs. Automation with much greater productivity per worker. Fewer with jobs actually making things.
Sure, that’s why it’s a declining portion of GDP. Workers are doing other things. But the US has not stopped making things. The same thing has happened to an even greater extreme in agriculture.
If you want to discuss the socio-political impact of the loss of manufacturing jobs, that’s a whole ‘nother thing probably not germane to this thread.
It’s germane to the conclusion claim that was made:
Also I suspect that while the United States States has increased the absolute amount of stuff it makes that the relative global share of stuff, even the relative share of stuff present in the domestic market, is much less. The power of the American economy is its financial instruments, its intellectual property (getting undermined currently), and our consumption of what others make.