Very true Chris. Some lawyer tasks are already being outsourced to places like India. Germany has kept a fairly strong manufacturing base, and we pay dearly for German products. Strong unions are a part of that equation, which seems counter intuitive since the unions here get so much blame. Their laws are more labor friendly than ours. US corporations are driving labor down to the level of subsistence while reaping giant bonuses for management. Shareholders don't fare as well either. Germany though has had much higher unemployment (which we now have matched) for years. There needs to be a balance and right now the US is out of balance. I was considered an outlier when in business school I stated that despite the shift to a service economy, we still will need to make things if we are to remain competitive.
Not in our lifetime, but ultimately, labor will need to be just as globally organized as corporations are. As standards of living raise from jobs bouncing across the globe, this will become possible.