That's one of the reasons the 7m cut in manufacturing jobs is not the crisis --because even w/ 'em back we'd still be short. The other reason is that even with the drop in manufacturing employment America's goods production is soaring. U.S.
per-capita goods production in real $ is now more than twice what it was in 1979. iow, compared to the '79 peak America makes a lot more stuff w/ a lot less effort even after adjusting for population and inflation.
