Revival of US based manufacturing/assembly plants?

Not that I am suspecting the US government to lead a de-facto low dollar policy to encourage US-based manufacturing, but sooner or later "Made in USA" or "Assembled in USA with foreign and domestic parts" may become again/more financially sound. Moreover, a Democratic Party electoral victory in 2008 will likely bring protectionism front and center, while war-related fiscal liabilities will be part of our national balance sheet for many an electoral cycle.

For more, check out this link with LinkedIn Q&A.

Wall Street: How good of an approximation it makes?

... for market-based capitalism?

Hence, how sound is it to rely on Wall Street to sort out most society decision-making needs--from pensions to child-care, from environment to efficient allocation of resources, from war to peace?

Yes, this was another LinkedIn question, and the argument went as following:

The Great Depression also resulted in a series of regulations and institutions that have been held responsible for many an ensuing development--ranging from the WWII to a progressive and modern society/state. After the Cold War, especially during Clinton's/Rubin's time, many of the post-Depression era regulations had come undone. The new idea in town has been "self regulation" of the private actors. In the light of the several bailouts, critics of "self regulation" say that in fact we only socialized loss and privatized gain. In the light of the ever renewed debate, triggered by the sub-prime events, loss of pension and health-care benefits through bankruptcy, and the '08 elections' messages, an evaluation of all previous assumptions and statements is as timely as ever. So, what do you think, is self-regulation the way to go, assuming that market capitalism is here to stay?

For other perspectives, follow this link.

What has happened to Drucker's "knowledge worker?"

A while back, in the Q&A section at LinkedIn, I asked: Had Drucker gotten it wrong?

I have a great deal of respect for Drucker's multi-dimensional approach to problem-solving. I also think of the days when access to the largest dynamos of economical power in the US was as open as the one enjoyed by the late Drucker. Moreover, Drucker's (and Toffler's) heralding of the knowledge worker has made for many a hopeful among the sons and daughters of the industrial (cog-)man. However, in this day and age, more are coming to question what happened to the knowledge worker as described by Drucker.

Is there something missing in:

1. Drucker's view;
2. Today's workers' knowledge; or
3. In today's economic system as re-defined by globalization?

Please note that Drucker had maintained his belief in the knowledge worker up until he passed away in 2005. So, he got to see how internet and globalization were re-shaping the organization--in fact, he had us aware of the new type of customer, as enabled by internet, and even recommended a new type of organization (collaborative rather than competitive).

For a discussion on the above, you may follow this link to LinkedIn.