[TheFiend7]

Honestly you're coming off far more extremist than OP is.

OP's just arguing that in times of strife, we could potentially suffer because of a lack of self-reliance. He has a valid point, and should another even worse and longer lasting zoonotic(or any kind) disease spur up again, do you honestly think it's a good idea to make no steps towards developing emergency self-reliance systems in case of catastrophe? What about in times of war even, or other conflicts from upstream suppliers?

You're kinda putting words in OP's mouth and coming off as somewhat naive.

EDIT: Wow you really changed the tone and content of your comment. I'm glad you recognized the flaws in what you were saying and adjusted it, but I'm also semi concerned your original comment is your actual opinion on the matter.

[AndrewKemendo]

The entire philosophy around open markets and globalization is that you don't need "self reliance" because it's one giant market that shares goals and interdependence.

[remarkEon]

I've never, ever heard globalization described that way. Globalization has always been about allowing the market to seek the lowest cost production locations and with free movement of goods this means the global (assumed to be homogeneous) consumer gets the cheapest prices possible for their basket. What you're describing is more akin to a network of bilateral trade agreements.

[CSSer]

As someone who thinks both parent comments have a point, I don’t really think they’re putting words in OP’s mouth at all. I think the interpretation that OP really seemed to suggest that we should bring it all home is a valid one. And I get it. I agree with you. There’s probably some things we should make here that we don’t. It’s becoming very clear that wholly interdependent Globalism isn’t a cure all, utopian destination for the future. But at the same time, I think the above post has at least some credence to it. There’s a reason people chose this. Perhaps it’s just the tone that makes it so off putting?

Edit: it’s been pointed out to me that the above comment was thoroughly edited after posting, which puts this into better context. Sorry about the confusion

[zkms]

> I think the interpretation that OP really seemed to suggest that we should bring it all home is a valid one.

"Bring" is the wrong word here, because building up industrial capacity in US for critical sectors (including but not limited to pharmaceuticals and electronic components / semiconductors) doesnt mean destroying the capacity that exists abroad.

But yes, I do believe there should be sufficient manufacturing capacity in CONUS so that if on 1 January 2020 all the borders of the US had been closed to all goods/people indefinitely; life could continue as usual in the US: no medication shortages, no ventilator shortages, no mask/respirator shortages, and no iPhone shortages.

Right now we have China openly stating (https://twitter.com/YanzhongHuang/status/1235300037875335170) stuff like this:

> China's Xinhua News just posted a piece titled "Be bold: the world owes China a thank you", which says if China imposes restrictions on pharmaceutical exports, US will be "plunged into the mighty sea of coronavirus".

How does this make you feel?

In the end there's no substitute for having manufacturing capacity in your own country -- whether it means resiliency in the face of these sorts of events, or whether it means that second-hand/surplus/inactive tooling/consumables/equipment/experience can find its way to smaller-volume sectors and enable what'd otherwise be unprofitable. You can go to a machine shop in the US today and there's a nontrivial probability of seeing equipment that was made in the 1940s because it still works! This is the enduring power of a robust industrial base.

[semerda]

Spot on! and it's not like drugs got any cheaper by outsourcing them to China. They are bloody expensive and of much lower quality than locally produced. The book "Bottle of Lies" exposes the low quality of all generics which make up 90% of the US supplies coming in from China.

[twblalock]

> > China's Xinhua News just posted a piece titled "Be bold: the world owes China a thank you", which says if China imposes restrictions on pharmaceutical exports, US will be "plunged into the mighty sea of coronavirus".

> How does this make you feel?

Amused. It's just saber rattling and propaganda. They've said similar things before. If they restricted exports it would hurt them too. (At one point they threatened to dump all their US treasury bonds, but that would also hurt them just as much as it hurts the US.)

Besides, plenty of other countries can make pharmaceuticals. It might cost more but we'd buy them.