wrk1

You don't need a citation - look at NM. By straightening the loop, the path will be shorter, due to the triangle inequality.

Note that I didn't say that free trade was "good" or "bad". That's a different discussion. I was simply describing the labor pool here in the US. Similarly, I am not saying that illegal immigration, H1B, etc is "good" or "bad".

Also, I am not complaining - I am doing pretty well for myself, thanks.

My other answer (to thomasfoster96) has more details on how free trade with Asia jacks up the labor pool.

That is true when a German or Romanian worker makes a product that is sold in the US. It is not true when, for example, a Chinese* worker (who works 14 hours a day 6 days a week, eats in the company mess hall, and lives in a company dorm) makes a product that is sold in the US.

The Chinese government doesn't protect these workers against overtime and similar abuses, so these workers receive very little for their labor. Through its economic policies, the Chinese government effectively sequesters most of these workers income. Today China has foreign exchange reserves of over $4 trillion. That's over 35% of its nominal GDP today. It's double China's nominal GDP in 2004.

The net result is that these workers have tiny participation as consumers in the Chinese economy. But they participate as full (actually like 2x full) workers in the US economy. The same dynamic is present in many other countries, so you get 2-3 billion people competing for jobs in an economy of 320 million.

* China is just an example here. Nothing personal against China or Chinese in general.

I think your suggestions are good, especially for young people who are looking to stay afloat in their 20s. One thing that I would add is the time perspective - in the US right now, people in their 20s and early 30s are competing and slowly sorting themselves out into stable career fields.

So my suggestion is definitely stay afloat, but don't assume that you will be able to stay afloat forever. Look at what other people are doing and how they are securing stable spots for themselves.

I like many of your suggestions, but the article itself is total BS. First, Uber drivers are replacing taxi drivers, who were never employees to begin with. So it's not a valid example. Second, the headline should read "As long as US sticks to current policies, the number of employees in the US will probably decrease".

This is happening because right now in the US, capital (large corporations, billionaires) controls the political process, and they've used it to massively jack up the size of the labor pool:

* Illegal immigration -> unskilled jobs.

* H1B & other visas -> skilled and semi-skilled jobs.

* Free trade with Asia -> manufacturing jobs.

* Outsourcing -> IT jobs.

* Normalizing 60-80 hour workweeks -> increases the labor pool by 1.5x - 2x.

Basically right now we have about 2-3 billion people competing for jobs in the US economy, which is sized for 320 million people. They (capital) want you to believe this is the "future", but in reality they just jacked up the labor pool by a huge amount.

Any worker who comes to the US leaves their home country, so the employment dynamic in those countries is quite different. And notice that the EU, whose economy is larger than the US, has avoided this dynamic.