Sounds like a whole lot of excuses, from the sorts of folks
who are secretly sitting on piles and piles of cash, waiting
to play the next round at the Wall Street Casino.

As manufacturing has fallen off, "finance" has exploded.

The pay-off is quicker and it's so 'scientific.'

That's the problem, and this first part of the series doesn't
really address that directly.

He can take his fab to China and not have to worry about taxes, and workforce training, and providing healthcare. God forbid an employer ever provide those things. He can pay people $8 an hour and leave it that.

And I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?

Heavy industry fouled its own nest in this country - I've seen it firsthand, in the mills and shops of New England. But - government, and the service industries used that, and similar issues to bleed money from manufacturing like a vampire. You think it's a coincedence that Marvin Bush is in the hazardous waste landfill business? Or Rick Perry's buddy, who built a nuclear waste landfill on land leased from the state?

There was an article in INC magazine about the costs of a business startup in Norway vs. the US - "Socialist" Norway comes out ahead in many respects, because the social safety net actually lowers wage burden for a startup, the population as a whole is better educated, and the government can be more infrastructure-friendly, because they are not as committed to "impact fees" to generate income as well as funding the necessary infrastructure improvments.