re: What led to a decline in manufacturing jobs initially?

Unions were a major reason. It became wayyyy too expensive to hire union employees when the Chinese could make a similar product while paying their employees peanuts.

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2) if manufacturing is naturally fading, why use government subsidies to uphold it?

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Its not. Foreign car companies have built plants all over the South where unions are not a problem. There is just as much manufacturing as there ever was.

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3) People are reliant on manufacturing always being there, even though our society is mostly service based. Is the GOP trying to hide the fact that people need to learn other skills and adapt?

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Its impossible to have a completely service based economy unless you live in a small island country.