THE QUIET “RESHORING” OF JOBS

A regular reader here, Ms. M.W.,  shared this with me, and even though it comes from a source that, to American readers, is usually considered to be on the extreme right of the political spectrum due to its historical associations with the John Birch Society, it deserves some comment. I'm certainly not in synch with that wing of the American political spectrum, but the article itself simply must be shared due to its intrinsic relevance to some of the hypotheses and scenarios we've been speculating about here, in this case, the scenario of a "retrenchment" on the part of the Anglo-sphere oligarchs that I have been advancing, indeed, since George Ann Hughes of The Byte Show first asked me back in 2008 if I thought the elites were intentionally trying to collapse the country, I've been maintaining that they're not. There was, for those unfamiliar with the American "alternative media," quite a lot of talk at that time that this was, indeed, the objective and scenario, and it was an interpretation being advanced by some of the country's more well-known talk show hosts, both on the left and on the right.

I argued then that I just didn't see that being in the cards, since to do so at that critical juncture in time, would be to rip their own power base from beneath them. If anything, I argued, they would seek to shore up their power base, meaning North America. More recently, in conversations and interviews with former Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Catherine Austin Fitts, we have fleshed out this scenario a bit more, noticing the capital movements from the developing world back into North America, and the heavy promoting of the 3d printing meme.

Now, it seems, some on the political right are noticing the same trend:

America's Re-shoring of Jobs Is Accelerating

You'll notice that the article indicates a number of factors are leading to the growing attractiveness of the USA as a manufacturing center, and they are the two most obvious ones: (1) cost of labor, and (2) cost of energy. The article, however, makes all this seem like the inevitable result simply of "free markets in play," except we would do well to remember that - ideological economic doctrines notwithstanding - there is no "free market" in the proper sense. All markets are subject to the effects of regulatory policy to some degree, now greater, now lesser, and varying from location and country to location and country.

I suspect, therefore, that we are looking at the consequence both of market forces and to a certain extent, of deliberate policy, particularly that vis-a-vis energy costs and fracking. But there is also in play that factor which I blogged about in respect to Russia's recent diplomatic victories, and that is, the western power elite in general, and the American faction of it in particular, know that the country is badly over-extended both geopolitically, militarily, and economically. A broad and ambitious program of unipolarism at the top simply cannot be sustained on the basis of a narrow economic and manufacturing base at the bottom and a dwindling professional middle class.... such "inverted economic pyramids" are simply unbalanced, and all it takes is for a Putin to come along, and gently nudge that great weight on the top balanced on the point on the bottom, via a "debt card," to reinforce the point.

Realpolitik  and power politics is about reality, and the current reality is, that if the west's financial oligarchs wish to maintain their power, a thorough reconsideration of their policies of the past few decades is in order. If nothing else, market realities will force it.  This retrenchment doesn't necessarily mean that one should expect American foreign policy to turn from the course it's been on. Quite the converse; it will attempt to "hold on" to current positions while the retrenchment is underway, then reassert itself when the process is more or less complete. And that means, in the meantime, one can also expect vigorous pushback from the BRICSA nations. At the same time, expect them to buy as much influence within that retrenchment, including technology transfers via investment, as possible, as this article (also courtesy of Ms. M.W.) indicates:

Russia sinks $1.5 billion into U.S. tech firms

See you on the flip side.