http://www.nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/what-happened-to-15-million-u-s-jobs--20110120?page=1

They forecast 22 million jobs would be created in USA.  Instead the USA only created 7 million last decade.  Things are seriously wrong and no one knows why.  This trend is bigger than any form of partisan mindsets should dwell on.

If I had to guess... i'd say that the promise of globalization Clinton pushed was that our old outdated jobs would be replaced with higher paying better jobs that never matieralized, because it saves just as much money if not more to outsource those jobs to poorer nations with decent enducational bases.

That and well, high tech manufacturing jobs take a lot more to do then regular manufaturing jobs anyway.

Aside from that, as the article says.  Making 10 year job forcasts is just dumb anyway.

I don't know if you can say it's beyond partisian though... afterall the big worry is that the US ends up with Europeon like labor.  Making the US more worthy of investment rather then our trend to make it LESS profitbale is the way to go.  Which you know, is what one side of teh aisle has been argueing forever.

Could not agree more with your last sentence. Here in Norway, back when all my friends started attending university, the government and guidance councillors told everyone to go for engineering degrees, there would be a massive surge of jobs 5-7 years later in both the public and private sectors. What happened? Nearly all engineering service was outsourced abroad to lower costs and gain favour within the EU (despite us not even being a member) and hundreds, if not a few thousand of people with costly (in time and funds) engineering degrees were left barefoot with an education that was basically useless.

On then to not getting jobs due to overqualification, getting low paid jobs in other areas of the public sector or going back to school to get another degree. Some also moved abroad where there were actually jobs to be had.

These forecasts are useless.

The BEST answer though would be to replace the Coporate tax with a 5% Coporate VAT. 

Instead of being taxed 23% for having your buisness here, you are taxed 5% of everything you sell here.

Buisnesses here and in China would then have to pay the same tax rate.... plus if your in China presumibly you have to pay China SOMETHING.

Not only would American companies be paying 18% less taxes we'd actually bring in 66% more revenue as 3% is actually all we need to make up the difference.

Or you could just use an outright Flat tax for all taxes, but I'm not as big a fan of that.

Welcome to global capitalism.  The problem is that practically every type of American job can be done for a lot cheaper oversees.  Doctors, engineers, bankers, you name it.  Why pay an American doctor tons of money when its cheaper to see to a doctor in India via video phone and travel there to have surgery?  Why pay an American engineer to build a design when a Chinese engineer can do for much less?

The 'problem' won't fix itself until practically every country on Earth is nearly economically equal.

Or the US leverages it's giant consumer base.

Hence replace of a coporate tax with a coporate VAT.  I'm sure some will complain but it's still a MUCH lower VAT then Europe so screw it.