I feel like you are missing the point about Germany a bit.
Vocational and apprenticeships are still a thing there.
I’m not missing the point. That is the point. The US wasn’t undercut by countries with cheaper labor; we just stopped caring about making things because our business, educational, political, and social culture all devalue it.
> Vocational and apprenticeships are still a thing there.
Exactly. But it’s the “American dream” to send their kids to college, even if that’s the completely inappropriate thing to do for that child’s future prospects.
Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are all developed countries that don’t have “cheap labor” anymore. They found and are holding their niches. Even in terms of “cheap labor”, China’s losing out to places like Bangladesh. A lot of these excuses for why America can’t compete in manufacturing sound like sour grapes to me.