OMG - The Trump deplorables were right! Liberal media outlet Quartz story shows how and why economists and statisticians missed the boat on the real reason behind decline of manufacturing in USA - not automation but foreign competition and currency manipulation. By the way, I love the Quartz logo (although our memers' Qs are better).

Long read but worthwhile:

https://qz.com/1269172/the-epic-mistake-about-manufacturing-thats-cost-americans-millions-of-jobs/

More info by the economist interviewed by Quartz:

Understanding the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing Employment

http://research.upjohn.org/empl_research/vol25/iss2/1/

http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1268&context=empl_research

http://www.upjohn.org/mfg-decline.pdf