A lot of those jobs were bubble-related and not in manufacturing. Mortgage brokers and real estate agents do not make for a strong economy.
> A lot of those jobs were bubble-related and not in manufacturing. Mortgage brokers and real estate agents do not make for a strong economy.
“Not in manufacturing” = “bubble-related”? What does that mean? A biotechnology engineer is “not in manufacturing”. Is that not a good job? How about computer or communications engineer? Researcher? Personally, I would rather be a mortgage broker than work in a steel plant. At least I would like to have that choice.
I live along the I94 corridor in Michigan. We used to be an industrial powerhouse. Here in Jackson alone we used to have Yard man, Goodyear, Die cast and Clark Equipment and a few other big players. For every one of those big players there were a half dozen smaller support shops. Back when NAFTA was passed our boss warned us that our small print shop wouldn’t be able to compete against mexico and within a year the doors were closed.
Today we have an empty run down industrial area with retail, resturants and welfare. Our unemploment rate topped 11% this week.
I’m sure some genius will be along soon to inform me that it’s all because of Jenny Granholm and unions. While not helpful they’re far from the only reason. The fact is that for every union job “conservatives” manage to eliminate, we lose a dozen or more non union jobs.
Someone needs to explain to me, why both union and non union jobs managed to thrive here in Michigan till the plummet following the passage of NAFTA.