re: #456 Obdicut

But that doesn’t actually mean a drop in manufacturing output. That represents the huge, obscene, unreal amount of money in the financial industry.

Agreed - but suggesting that it is, more or less, a problem of employment doesn’t really hit what the problem is.

The problem is that the financial sector became such a huge magnet for investors. Even old-time manufacturing companies, like GM, became largely an extension of the financial industry (seeking profits from loans). The whole notion of a long-term business model meaning making a reasonable profit for turning out a quality product for a good price is becoming increasingly a thing of the past. It has been replaced by the model of structuring companies to be mechanisms for financial maneuvering that brings short-term profits to investors.