Presidential campaigns were fueled by this kind of criticism. What looked to be symptoms of decline were actually healthy symptoms of economic adjustment. Mr. Hicks said his father, a lifelong union factory worker, lived these sorts of economic transitions. They need different kinds of skills. The capacity of our economy to adjust in the short term allows it to grow and prosper in the long run, the economists say.
Productivity certainly lessens how large the manufacturing sector needs to be, economists say.
The companies have adapted to having employees, who, by using new technologies, have become more efficient. In a his new book, economist Thomas Sowell also writes about the changing needs of companies and the effect on employment. In 1900, the United States had about 10 million farmers and laborers to feed about 76 million people. A century later, he added, fewer than one-fifth of these farm workers remained to feed a population more than three times as large. In other words, the economy evolved and allocated those resources to other endeavors.