Outsourcing your manufacturing base isn’t actually a bad thing, it’s something that happens when you transition into a high income service economy. Sectors like mining and others are just too degrading environmentally and you can outsource them as they did multiple times.
Outsourcing manufacturing is not inherently bad, but the issue is ''scale'' and ''dependency''. Unlike Germany or Japan, which maintained critical industries while shifting toward services, the U.S. has gutted entire manufacturing sectors, leaving it heavily reliant on foreign supply chains. The 2020 pandemic revealed just how vulnerable this made the country, shortages of medical supplies, semiconductors, and other essential goods were direct consequences of over-reliance on external production.
Moreover, industries like mining and heavy manufacturing have been key to economic self-sufficiency for high income nations. While environmental concerns are valid, responsible domestic production is preferable to outsourcing pollution and strategic industries to geopolitical rivals like China.
The Us has a massive internal economy and doesn’t rely on foreign trade like Europe.
While the U.S. does have a large internal market, it still heavily depends on global supply chains. The trade deficit has consistently widened, with China alone accounting for hundreds of billions in deficits annually. America’s manufacturing dependency is evident in sectors like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and rare earth metals, many of which are sourced from Asia.
Unlike Europe, which has structured regional trade blocs to ensure stability, the U.S. is losing industrial competitiveness while depending on imports. A self-sustaining economy must be able to produce core goods domestically rather than relying on adversaries.
The rise of china doesnt = the fall of America. The have the highest gdp growth in the g7 and yes while they are becoming more unequal in the long run it can be reversed if a strong democrat candidate comes you know the cycle already.
China’s rise does not automatically mean America’s fall, but it does
erode U.S. global dominance. China is building parallel economic institutions (BRICS, Belt and Road, alternative payment systems) that directly challenge U.S. financial and trade supremacy.
As for GDP growth, nominal numbers can be misleading. Much of U.S. growth is fueled by financial speculation, stock buybacks, and debt expansion rather than tangible production. Wealth inequality continues to rise, and simply electing a different political leader won’t reverse systemic economic decay.
+ almost all developed economies are struggling with low birth rates immigration isn’t necessarily a bad thing and as chinas population collapses cuz of their one child policy they’ll be doing the same thing.
While birth rate decline is a problem in developed nations, mass immigration is not a ''sustainable'' solution. Importing millions of low-skilled workers does not guarantee economic growth, Europe has already faced economic stagnation despite mass migration. The U.S. is now experiencing social fragmentation due to uncontrolled immigration.
China’s demographic issues are real, but they have a fundamentally different approach. Rather than importing cheap labor, China is investing in automation and technology to offset population decline. The U.S., by contrast, is filling its labor shortages with migrants, which creates long term economic and social challenges.
Plus the dollar is still the world’s largest reserve currency and contrary to public fear mongering it’s not dropping. People had this same rhetoric about the US during the Cold War. They really thought the soviets would win for a time with the rise of Sputnik, space endeavours and socialism rapidly expanding throughout the world.
While the U.S. dollar remains dominant, de-dollarization efforts are accelerating. BRICS nations, the Gulf states, and even U.S. allies like France have begun shifting to alternative payment systems. The dollar’s share in global reserves has dropped from over 70% in 2000 to around 58% today.
The issue is not that the dollar will vanish overnight but that its
relative dominance is declining. The more countries move away from the dollar, the weaker America's economic leverage becomes.
The US is still the worlds biggest economy and will still be for the foreseeable future
The U.S. is the biggest economy by nominal GDP, but China has already surpassed it in purchasing power parity (PPP). China leads in global trade, infrastructure development, and industrial output.
If trends continue, the U.S. risks becoming a financialized, consumer driven economy while China controls the backbone of global production. Remaining the biggest economy is meaningless if the core industries, supply chains, and innovation hubs are moving elsewhere.
America in someways is already a consumer driven society and financialized, it's all going to collapse as you can imagine due to the tariffs, inflation that's going to spike up consumer prices and the global de-dollarization that's going to destroy it's financial strength.
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