Ecomonomical
March 15th, 2007 |Query: Can a pure service economy sustain itself?
It seems to be that, in the United States, most of the new jobs that are created are in the service industry. Will there soon be a time when almost nothing is manufactured in this country, where we import everything and we all have jobs selling products back and forth to each other?
Could there even come a time when most “technical” jobs like engineering, architecture, finance and advertising can be done outside of the United States, with the same quality of work, but for less money?
Will we come to the point where all the “thinking” jobs are off shored and we all end up working jobs providing simple day-to-day life services for each other? Grocery stores, coffee shops, gas stations, clothing stores…only services that are required locally would be necessary. Perhaps the only careers that would end up being of high value would be in medical services (not research). All other work would just involve ringing up the cash register.
What is the effect to developing countries once they “fully develop” and no longer have a cheap labor force for manufacturing. Is it possible for every country to achieve a successful middle class at the same time or will the success of one country need to come at the cost of another country?
Grande non-fat chai latte please….and throw in a pumpkin loaf.
