Farms and Factories

Productivity improvement through technological change is the key cause of industrial shifts. Farms have continually improved labor efficiency, leaving surplus labor to shift to manufacturing. Innovative factory products cycle back to the farm in an ongoing cycle. Cause and effect are permanently intertwined.Agriculture has nearly vanished as a share of GDP, but its output always grows. Manufacturing has a moderate and stable share of GDP, but is unevenly distributed around the world.Shifts from farm to factory to office are blamed for job losses. Trade with China is also blamed. These are only partly correct. China regained its most favored nation trade status and is now in an industrial revolution. It has added to global industrial output instead of absorbing it from the West.