What If Things Were Made in America Again

Book excerpt: In What if Things Were Made in America Again Jim Stuber poses three haunting questions: Why does it seem like everything is made somewhere else? Isnt that causing a problem? If it is, what can be done about it? The answers are surprising. We learn how the U.S. gave whole industries away pursuing free trade and fighting communism. How trade morphed into globalization, three billion people joined the world economy in the age of oversupply, and China changed everything by becoming the worlds workshop, to the detriment of developed and developing countries alike. How all this resulted in six million lost manufacturing jobs and lower wages for most Americans, outweighing any gains from lower prices of the foreign goods. How these job losses destroyed lives, families, and communities, while our political and intellectual elites told us how good this was for everyone. How the future portends more jobs lost to Mexico, China, and India, including white collar jobs, in a race to the bottom threatening our future. Most importantly, we learn how consumers can solve the problem: what sets this book apart is an action plan that can immediately be implemented by individual Americans.