What Happened to Good Paying Jobs?

The US, after WWII, became a manufacturing giant. Good jobs, good pay, good benefits. Why? The USA was untouched by the war, where all industrial competitors in Europe and the Pacific lay in ruins. The US, during the 40s, 50s, and 60s, was the only country which had standing factories that could meet the demands of the world.


As we moved passed the1960's into the 1970's and beyond, something happened. Europe and Japan rebuilt their industrial base destroyed by the war. Global competition began to eat away at the US manufacturing monopoly that once supported all of the "good" union wages and benefits. US car manufacturers, who previously could mass produce inferior products and sell them all.. could no longer do so. Japan started to capture huge market share of the car industry, as increased world manufacturing put high demand on oil that in turn increased gas prices. This of course created high demand for reliable cars that used less gas. The US car industry didn't see it coming, but the Japanese did and exploited it.


Creating good paying jobs is more than just getting an education. Its developing a workforce that can build, sell, and market things people want to buy. Government cannot anticipate this, and only a free market unleashed by low tax and regulatory environments creates the incentives for millions of minds to test, develop, and market millions of products and services. Some products will win big, others will lose. However, Government intervention in this process is what holds us back. Even colleges today are struggling with the problem of training students to do jobs that don't exist yet.....and don't get me started on degrees in ethnic studies and such.


I get so frustrated by the idea there is some magic formula to create good paying jobs. However, there are three things that will work, 1. free markets, 2. free markets, and 3. free markets....and please keep Government bureaucrats who know nothing of the real world out of the job creation business. If we don't, we'll all be starving while well paid and fed Government bureaucrats continue to make promises that they're only here to help us