From what I've read, the main issues with the TPP have very little to do with the US losing jobs. It sure doesn't create any or increase our GDP much because the majority of US manufacturing deals in capital goods, but the TPP (from what I read) deals with a majority of textiles and other things we don't manufacture here anyway less expensive so the economics gain is on the side of the consumers. Where it falls extremely short is the liability that governments incur from foreign firms and investors as described here:
Tricks of the Trade Deal: Six Big Problems with the Trans-Pacific Partnership - Roosevelt Institute
It has never left, it has just been automated to a point that factories run with hundreds of employees rather than thousands.
I'd like to see Trump encourage people from manufacturing to explore options in emerging service industries...
America leads the world in value of manufactured goods.
Expecially considering large amount of the economy that the service industry takes up.
The problem is the lack of resources encouraging fluidity in the labor market and the lack of people willing to use those resources to retrain into other careers. My dad for example can fix anything: heavy Caterpillar tractors, vehicles, HVAC, saw mills, and manufacture some other things he needs limited only by equipment. Because he couldn't afford to pay people to come out to the job site to fix it, he had to teach himself to put food on the table which means I'll probably never know 1/4 of the stuff he knows. However at 48, were the logging industry to eventually become automated, he would be absolutely screwed. Despite his robust accumulated knowledge, he couldn't find a job doing any of those things because of occupational licensing and other BS. This is very common for many of his friends too, and starting at the entry level in a new career for someone who spent most of his life busting his ass is very difficult for many men to handle so they simply don't try. I've seen it with his buddies that have been laid off from high-paying oil jobs in the past year.
I would absoultely love to see resources similar to veteran transition resources that teach people how to leverage their knowledge on a resume and reduce the stigma of starting over. Mike Rowe might be a hell of a person to tap for this to establish public support.
The Facts About Modern Manufacturing | MAPI
From, lindy's link. This is the real problem affecting US manufacturing jobs.
American students are falling behind in math and science. U.S. manufacturers are increasingly challenged to find workers suitably skilled in math and science. No wonder: the latest international assessment of high school students finds American 15-year-olds below the international average in math literacy and just slightly above the average in science literacy. German, Canadian, Japanese, and British youth all rank ahead of their American counterparts in these areas. Policymakers at all levels need to focus on strategies to improve our math and science capabilities.
STEM majors, specifically engineering from personal experience, have a much higher make up of international students than people think. I was certainly surprised to see the number in my program at a relatively regional school in Louisiana of all places so I can imagine how it is elsewhere in the country.
What needs to happen economically is an overhaul of the dang corporate system. Transfer pricing for example. A firm with plants in multiple countries can "sell" each plant different parts of the whole to affect where it is taxed, thus, shifting the tax revenue to the lowest taxing country meaning the US is getting shafted in revenue. Don't forget the ridiculous regulations that allow a company to state the country of origin despite having a low percentage actually made there. Example:
Top 10 Most American Trucks.
Unions are also just awful trade, jobs, and passing costs on to consumers. I was utterly amazed to discover that a Teamster at a company I had an internship at made no shit $70/hour to drive a truck and occasionally operate a forklift. They could have had two truck drivers and a forklift operator for that price. Not to mention, I was reprimanded simply for giving a thumbs up to the forklift operator that the forks were all the way under a pallet because the union workers were busy doing other things so I figured I would be helpful, but no "that's a union job". Speaking to other engineering students/oil and gas workers, unions commonly affect production for a myriad reasons, and union workers are almost impossible to fire.
Stuff like this and so many other stupid regulations that can and hopefully will be reduced by someone with Trump's business acumen would go a long way toward strengthening the economy. Better trade agreements are great, but there is a great saying about removing the beam from your own eye before you attempt to remove the splinter from someone else's. Sorry about the soapbox. I'm by no means an economist, but I do find economics absolutely fascinating.
