It's that way in most countries throughout the centuries. The same condition between nations (countries) of the dominant and the subservient colonies for the others.
I think the US was in a very unique circumstances in the 40's to the 80's, primarily boosted by the only manufacturing country after WWII. Those were rebuilding decades for the other countries. In the 50's and 60's, the middle class flourished thanks to the labor unions, at a time when there was no competition from anywhere. I think the peak coincided with the 1999-2000 stock market peak. In the 60's and 70's, there was plenty of Americans driving the low end cars such as Beetles and Datsuns. They were not low end at that time. By end of 1999, many middle class Americans drove Lexus and Porches, and other luxury cars.
Same scenario with how kids grew up in the 40's, 50's, etc to the 90's. There is no doubt, a greater percentage of those growing up in the 80's and 90's have much more spending power and more pampered, born with silver spoons. In the 50's and 60's, there were only a handful of high school students driving their own cars. Today's high schools have to have parking lots large enough to accomodate parking for their senior students.
During the 50's and 60's, Europe were rebuilding phase and Japan was transitioning and developing its industries from war machine to consumer goods (motorcycles and then cars). The Z's were a boost for the Japanese cars. South Korea was a laggard because of the Korean conflict that lasted into the 50's. SK is beginning to produce very decent cars.
Today, there is competition from a very capable producer and manufacturer (China) and soon to be joined by India (but I am not sure). This will be the case for the next five decades, if not 10 decades. Commerce has and will always go to where the cost of production is lowest.
So it is time for re-equalization and getting back to the basics. |
