Most of the Superfund sites are from manufacturing, yes? What have we learned about industrial waste handling to avoid that in the future?
hunglee2 · 12h ago
> Manufacturing jobs simply have greater wage potential than many jobs in services because they have more room for productivity growth and a higher degree of leverage to win wage demands <
the reason why service jobs overtook manufacturing is precisely the opposite of this claim. Since Reagan / Thatcher era financialisation of the economy, it made much more sense to get job in 'the service industry' because it you could significantly increase your earning potential vis a vis those who continued in the manufacturing sector.
deadeye · 11h ago
I think you and the author have a different idea of what a "service" job is.
anovikov · 13h ago
Empty talk. Manufacturing never left. It grew slower than other economic sectors mostly because of pricing, manufactured goods are just a lot cheaper than they used to be.
Manufacturing jobs are gone, and they will never return. Moreover, probably spillover effects from ongoing manufacturing renaissance will translate into further decrease of manufacturing employment: new industry being created now can't exist without massive automation, and when this automation is in place, it will be adopted by pre-existing manufacturing businesses, too.
That's the case everywhere around the globe. Manufacturing employment is on the decline everywhere and there's no going back.
taylodl · 13h ago
Manufacturing now is increasingly being seen as a strategic capability. That's the whole impetus of "bringing it back." As you correctly point out, the United States is manufacturing more now than it ever has, while simultaneously decreasing manufacturing jobs thanks to industrial automation. The ineptitude of this administration is leading them to try to bring everything back, which is impossible - we literally don't have enough manufacturing capacity to make everything, without any discernment to what is strategic. The CHIPS act, that was strategic: bring back semiconductor manufacturing. But bringing back the manufacture of Barbie dolls and MAGA hats? Who cares?! It'll be ironic if all we get back is the junk manufacturing while the strategic stuff remains manufactured abroad.
the reason why service jobs overtook manufacturing is precisely the opposite of this claim. Since Reagan / Thatcher era financialisation of the economy, it made much more sense to get job in 'the service industry' because it you could significantly increase your earning potential vis a vis those who continued in the manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing jobs are gone, and they will never return. Moreover, probably spillover effects from ongoing manufacturing renaissance will translate into further decrease of manufacturing employment: new industry being created now can't exist without massive automation, and when this automation is in place, it will be adopted by pre-existing manufacturing businesses, too.
That's the case everywhere around the globe. Manufacturing employment is on the decline everywhere and there's no going back.