Rugoz wrote:
Haha, bullshit.
People always overestimate the importance of resources. It's a small part of the value chain. Otherwise oil sheikhdoms would rule the world.
Something @noemon said in another thread is really starting to ring true with me. Authoritarian states and their supporters, put a whole lot of emphasis on primary/base level economic resources. Like gas, oil, food, etc. Basically raw materials and (mostly low tech) manufacturing. They seem to completely ignore the higher tiers of economic activities and development that are basically what defines what an advance economy is.
This is why we see so much emphasis on the myth that the west has "exported its entire manufacturing base to China" from these types of people. They have a myopic outlook. Sure, the west's low tier manufacturing base has been exported mostly, but that is the easiest thing to bring back (and we already see some companies doing just that). What has not been exported is it's high tech manufacturing base, and in fact, we see more investment in those areas.
There's also a deglobalization that is starting to happen. COVID & Russia's illegal war is accelerating this process. Any company that thinks things will go back to the old days where you manufacture most/all your product in one country, and in especially an authoritarian country are going to lose. They will lose to competitors that don't do that and realize that the world has changed. Globalization in its pre-covid form is dying. Manufacturing will become more regionlized. The US/Canada will use its poorer states (like the US southern states), Mexico, and South America more than China for lower cost labor. Europe, will use Eastern Europe and North Africa more than Asia. Etc. etc. Sure, people in the west will need to pay more for shit, but that's ok. It's time to stop placing profits over people. Who loses the most from this shift? China; no country is more dependent on this old/dying system than China. It will become harder for them to maintain their growth (once you remove their real estate bubble, their growth doesn't look that great anymore). It will also become harder for them to steal technology/IP since there will be less foreign business there.
We are not going back to the old ways, and this should be net benefit for rest of the world that isn't China (or Russia).
I can think of 11780 reasons Trump shouldn't be president ever again.