Danr, greed… Plain and simple… When you can move your manufacturing offshore, pay about $.20 an hour for labor, avoid all environmental regulations, and ship it back to sell in this country with no penalty, it's a no brainer…
I completely disagree with Intel and ssnvet. Intel has a vested interest in simply making things cheaper to increase their bottom line. They'll twist the facts anyway they deem necessary to fit their agenda, and try to convince you they're right.
The US is approximately 1/3 the entire global market for consumer goods. The entire continent of Europe makes up another 1/3, and that shows you just how much consumption goes on in this country. Instead of leveraging that in their favor, paid off politicians promote "free trade" where companies can move production to exploit the poor populations and avoid EPA and OSHA regulations and ship the product back to the US without any penalty. The only concerns they have are the cost of shipping, theft, and quality control. They have all allowed the quality control to take a backseat to some degree or another in the name of profits. To put it bluntly, this country is for sale to the highest bidder. Politicians don't vote the will of the people, but, instead, the will of their financial backers. They have an agenda: Corporate profits. They also have a propaganda machine in right-wing talk radio. Many honest, hard working, blue collar citizens have now been convinced that making corporations more money by shipping their jobs offshore is in their best interest. People have been reduced to voting because of their stance on gun laws, or abortion instead of how it affects their job outlook and their wallet. The left hasn't help much, either, with their push for unrealistic green energy, unrealistic pollution controls, cap and trade, etc. When Obama came to power, many major refineries, chemical plants, and power houses called off plans for maintenance work because of all the cap and trade talk. It probably sank the economy deeper than it would have been anyway. Eventually that work had to be done, but they played the wait and see game because they could afford to. So the right wants to run industry out to save on wages and make higher profits, and the left wants to run industry out because of pollution.
A simple solution would be to start clamping down on the import of goods from 2nd and 3rd world countries where pollution controls are non-existent, worker safety is of no concern, working conditions are atrocious, and labor wages are at a point so low we can't compete because of exploitation. Instead, we should grant "free trade" with countries that are on the same page as us with those conditions and are willing to sell our goods freely in their markets, without restriction. Instead, we open out doors to countries that restrict the sale of US goods if they're in direct competition with goods made their. There is no reason why we should have to compete for wages with 3rd world countries, except for the fact that politicians have sold us out. Every good coming from countries that are deemed uncompetitive should be levied a tariff so large it makes it unwise to produce in those countries while selling the goods here.
And, ssnvet, you're wrong. Japan also had the same state controlled economy, and where are they now? The fact is, that industry goes where they can exploit the most and become the most efficient. When China starts demanding higher wages, and they can move to Brazil for less, they will. Then, China will nose dive and Brazil will be the new rising star. The countries that have the most industrialization have the strongest economies. It's always been that way. It's difficult to have trade when you don't make much… This is why the politicians need to re-industrialize this country.