Comments by "Nicholas Conder" (@nicholasconder4703) on "ProfSteveKeen" channel.

  1. These are a couple of my father's favorite jokes about economics: Economics: a science based on self-evidential truths that are neither self-evidential nor true. A chemist, a physicist and an economist went on a fishing trip, but realized at supper time they have forgotten to bring a can opener. The Chemist said, "well, if we add salt to this water, we can create an electrolyte that will rust the lid so we can open it and eat. The Physicist said, "No, all we have to do is apply the appropriate amount of heat and pressure to the right section of the lid and it will pop off." The Economist then said, "No, no, no. You have it all wrong. Let us assume we have a can opener ..."
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  2. You are correct that the issue with America's declining share of the market is about production cost. It is far cheaper to build electronics in China than it is to produce them in the US, so a lot of US (and other nation's companies) moved to China to take advantage of the cheap labor and sweetheart deals they could get. It is the same reason that a lot of ore bodies in North America are not being tapped. Finances. It is cheaper to get the minerals from New Guinea and South America than it is to mine it in the US and Canada. Same with steel production. And as you rightly point out, beginning in the 1970s the US companies exported production of their goods to other countries in order to make a bigger profit, while completely ignoring the knock-on effects on the economy. I would add, however, that it is not just the fault of the companies. The American worker got greedy and effectively priced the US out of a competitive position in the world marketplace, which was part of the incentive for companies to move to 3rd world countries. I would add, though, is that you aren't showing is that the US still accounts for something like 25% of the world's GDP, and is actually the wealthiest nation on the planet by a mile. China comes in a distant second. And China is going through a major financial crisis right now as well caused by their lack of diversification and over-extension of capital through their Belt and Road Initiative. One thing you did not cover is that the biggest bane to the economy is actually large-scale automation, because it not only removes people from high-paying jobs, which affects your tax base and economy. Unemployed people don't buy a lot of goods and wind up being a burden on society. Automation also causes you to lose skilled laborers and much-needed skill sets. It also turns out in the long run that you don't save a lot of money either, as you have to continually reprogram the machines, replace them with other expensive machines, upgrade the software, etc.
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