20 years ago I would have told you that purchasing products cheaply is the best for the economy. The basic Walmart globalization view. The problem was that the same people buying products were employed making products too. It did not matter how cheaply they can buy products if they have lost their job and ability to purchase items. If customers don't have good paying jobs, it doesn't matter how inexpensive the products are.

Another major problem is that the manufacturing infrastructure portfolio becomes centralized with just a few low cost producers making most of the goods. The more centralized the infrastructure the more vulnerable it is to disruption due to natural disaster or war.

Just like maintaining a diversified investment portfolio protects you from Enron or Worldcom type disasters, a diversified manufacturing infrastructure actually provides a macroeconomic BENEFIT. No one war or hurricane will not stop the economy of a country.

Much of our problems in the mid-east today are due to the over centralization of fuel on one type of source in an inexpensive by small part of the world. The western world's economy can be held hostage by a few highly motivated people.

Globalization has not help the 3rd world countries like we once hoped. The lack of legal, environmental and health standards in 3rd world countries keep the manufacturing jobs from having a large benefit to the average citizens. Even worse, the 3rd world farmers have to compete against the high mechanized western farmers. The result can be a loss of standard of living to a 3rd world country instead of a gain. The promise of world peace and prosperity from globalization will never be fulfilled.

In the race to make items cheaper we are really throwing away infrastructure diversity and natural economic safe guards.

Maybe we need to look back at the pre-WWII USA economic model. Each region of the country grew its on food and provided much of the raw material for local manufacturing. Individual items may have been expensive but the economy could handle disruptions to different regions without the whole country's economy being disrupted. Transportation costs (fuel) were not as important. Jobs were more readily available for the average citizen.

I seriously think that the first political party that totally rethinks the post-WWII economic model and comes up with a new safer model will lead this country for the next couple of generations.