[thaumaturgy]

I'm not so sure.

Most of what I read suggests that American workers are as productive as ever; the generated wealth just seems to be getting concentrated into the hands of a smaller number of people. It's not really employment or even industry that's broken, it's the exploitation of workers (and not just in the U.S., although it's pretty bad here right now), and since it is politically incorrect to suggest anything that smells even a little like wealth redistribution, the problem will continue for a while until there is sufficient public unrest.

The situation looks to me a lot like the one in the late 19th century (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Bosses_of_the_Senate_b...), except now the political fat cats and monopolists are in the news and communications industries.