Not to mention the lead times on factory construction being two orders of magnitude longer in the United States.
Steve Jobs told Obama manufacturing is never coming home, but it only partly had to do with cost. Impossibility of scaling like China was the major blocker.
I'm not sure that the West can move manufacturing back home, but I can see manufacturing moving to the next poorest country, in perpetuity. China's standard of living is increasing, and it will eventually be as economical to outsource work to China as it is to outsource labor to Japan or South Korea.
Instead, I can see the world gradually shifting manufacturing to the next cheapest labor pool until there is none left, and then the ensuing equilibrium would have diversified supply chains, with any concentration largely being a function of 1) access to natural resources, and 2) access to expertise.
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The US technically can, but then how many Americans would be able to buy the $2999 iPhone (for example) to keep Apple's current valuation?
It will move to places like India and Vietnam and other countries that are more open and transparent but also Cheap.
It was accelerating before the pandemic.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3045141/c...
Not to mention the lead times on factory construction being two orders of magnitude longer in the United States.
Steve Jobs told Obama manufacturing is never coming home, but it only partly had to do with cost. Impossibility of scaling like China was the major blocker.
I'm not sure that the West can move manufacturing back home, but I can see manufacturing moving to the next poorest country, in perpetuity. China's standard of living is increasing, and it will eventually be as economical to outsource work to China as it is to outsource labor to Japan or South Korea.
Instead, I can see the world gradually shifting manufacturing to the next cheapest labor pool until there is none left, and then the ensuing equilibrium would have diversified supply chains, with any concentration largely being a function of 1) access to natural resources, and 2) access to expertise.