With all due respect, I’m involved with decision making at a manufacturing company and am closely associated with other manufacturers who are working hard to bring a renaissance in American Manufacturing and trying to bring manufacturing back to this country.
The issues I discuss are a large component of the decision dynamics driving us to invest in automation for new production lines over traditional human labor whenever practically feasible, despite the risk of automation.
In fact, the dynamics I discussed were primary drivers in the decision making process to offshore manufacturing in the first place.
I did not intend to challenge your points. I agree with them.
My point is that automation is pretty much inherently more cost-effective, though not necessarily for early adopters.
IOW, absent government idiocy, this would still be an issue. Might take 5 or 10 years longer, but would not change the ultimate result.