Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

The question is whether we are dependent on China rather than the outside world. Let's not forget that there are many places that are now cheaper than China for manufacturing, and aren't potential political foe. It's also worth remembering that the movement of outsourcing of western manufacturing to China happened within only about 10 years (ie late 90s to late 2000s). That's actually pretty fast.



It's no longer textiles and cheap plastic trinkets "we" outsource to China - there's a lot of technical knowledge, infrastructure & skill now available in China that is not easily replaceable by opening a factory in Bangladesh or Turkey.


It would still be a sucky ten years, a sacrifice many people probably don't want to make. It's like the natural gas situation. We could already have a robust renewable setup here technology-wise, but it was easier to just rely on cheap gas. Now we cannot pull that renewable wonderland out of a hat over night...




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: