America’s economic engine is compromised. Forces at work over the last 30 years have sapped our nation’s vitality. How did it happen?

For me it started in 1985 while working on the turnaround of a small athletic equipment wholesaler. Up to that time all of the specialized footwear that the company sold was manufactured in Italy. In order to grow its business, the company engaged a small Korean factory to produce its own brand of footwear. The shoes were superior to the Italian-made models and sold at a much lower price. Life was good.

The good times were, however, short lived. Within the first year, Korean labor rates rose, product costs started to climb and competitors entered the market with production based in other Asian countries. What had been an exclusively Italian niche had, within less than two years, moved to mostly Asian manufacturing, with little or no regard for U.S. shoe makers in the process.

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