Similarly, the continuing transition away from any manufacturing is a problem.
And the natural effect of technology advancements to reduce the need for human workers is, imo, the number one reason things are the way they are right now.
Not sure how that last one is going to end up.
If technological advancements are reducing the need for human workers, then why does the unskilled labor workforce (across the globe) continue to increase?
Highly sophisticated corporations, based in the U.S., Western Europe, and China, continue to export manufacturing operations to South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, and, in doing so, hire an abundance of unskilled labor. Production per capita, the world over, continues to increase more and more, as well, while production per capita is slowing down in the West.
The simple fact is that manufacturing and production are not declining, industry is just moving its operations to places where they can produce cheaper; this shift leads to job loss in America and job growth in the countries that are industry-friendly.
Until the U.S. realizes that the way to sustain the economy is by bringing production back to America (which requires competitive wages, competitive corporate income tax, and less red-tape), then we will continue to lose jobs (and, continue to try to rationalize it by saying that technology is taking jobs away and the manufacturing is on the decline, in spite of empirical evidence to the contrary).
Average Annual Growth in GDP Per Capita (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s):
World (sans U.S.): 1.99, 1.28, 1.07, 1.66
U.S.: 2.17, 2.30, 2.15,
0.62
Latin America: 3.50, -0.52, 1.52, 1.88
EU15: 2.71, 2.17, 1.88,
0.75
USSR (& Former): 2.17, 1.34, -4.02, 5.59
East Asia (sans Japan): 5.41, 7.00, 7.53
SE Asia: 4.70, 3.46, 3.30, 3.61
South Asia: 1.10, 3.18, 3.19, 5.57
Sub-Saharan Africa: 0.60, -1.05, -0.19, 2.31
"Developed" (sans US): 2.75, 2.56, 1.64, 0.83
Manufacturing, requiring unskilled labor, has not slowed down; it has only left the US and the "Developed" nations.
