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The plan was that by doing our factory jobs they would become like us.

That may have been a secondary or tertiary goal, at best. The primary goal was we'd get cheaper products, which we did.

Just to elaborate, it wasn’t a central policy at all. It was companies competing for cheaper costs.

Plenty of countries have used tariffs to successfully develop and protect key industries. Including... the USA!

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-pr....

The choice to get rid of these policies was made by people who fully understood that doing so would pump assets and dump exports, and that the ability to benefit from the asset pump would be concentrated while the fallout from the dumping of exports would be widespread.

They fully understood what they were doing, just like Jack Welsh did.

I am glad we have reversed direction and hope that it is not too late.

They kind of did. A lot of the developing world dresses, eats and acts like us, especially amongst the wealthier folks.

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