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Originally Posted by ilduclo

trade is a 2 edged sword. West Coast US is doing GREAT with Asian trade, rust belt states, not so. It's a general win, IMO, but then I'm from West Coast US...

i think it's only a 2-edged sword if one wants to stay always the same.

the rustbelt wasn't a failure of trade itself, rather it was failure of the USA to help its workers adapt to the new industries or modernize its existing ones.

the rust belt had some of the same industries that help germany flourish (e.g. auto), except that it doesn't compete globally the same way.

if you're new chinese money-- do you buy audi or chevy?

cadillac is #10, everything above is from elsewhere:

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eglg4.../#462614a557a5

meanwhile, old steel places like pittsburgh are reshaping as tech hubs-- but only ever so slowly

you can't bring back coal to west virginia and kentucky-- natural gas is cheaper and cleaner. things change. we no longer ride horse buggys.

the years that have passed since nafta was enacted have been a huge missed opportunity. our leaders were asleep at the wheel.

where were the big jobs retraining programs? walmart greeter?

we dropped the ball.