Vice President J.D. Vance stunned a crowd with hard truths about America’s addiction to cheap foreign labor. He said globalization hurt workers and killed innovation. His words cut through the usual political talk, pointing out how elites got it wrong for decades.
Vance explained that leaders thought rich countries could keep designing products while poor countries made them. They believed iPhone boxes would always say “designed in California” while being built overseas. But he said this was a mistake. Places that handled manufacturing quickly learned to design things too. America got squeezed as other nations moved up the value chain.
Cheap labor became a drug for Western economies, according to Vance. Companies got hooked on low wages instead of inventing new solutions. Whether through offshoring factories or mass immigration, the focus on cheap workers backfired. Productivity stalled as businesses leaned on easy labor instead of pushing for progress.
Vance compared cheap labor to a crutch that holds back real innovation. He argued that higher wages force companies to automate and improve. When McDonald’s workers earn more, restaurants add self-service kiosks. That push to do more with less drives technological leaps. But cheap labor lets companies avoid making those tough choices.
The vice president slammed the idea that globalization helped everyone. He said it drained America’s industrial base and weakened workers. Other countries caught up by mastering both making and designing products. Meanwhile, U.S. leaders kept pretending factory job losses didn’t matter as long as people “learned to code.”
Vance highlighted how network effects helped foreign competitors. Factories shared ideas with designers overseas, spreading knowledge America once guarded. Intellectual property and skilled workers flowed to rising economies. What started as simple manufacturing hubs became tech rivals, outmaneuvering U.S. companies.
He rejected fears about AI destroying jobs, comparing it to ATMs that created more banking roles. True innovation lifts living standards, he argued. The problem isn’t technology—it’s relying on cheap labor instead of building better systems. American workers get left behind when companies chase low wages instead of breakthroughs.
The solution, Vance said, is refocusing on homegrown innovation. Populists and tech leaders share the same enemy: a system that rewards cheap shortcuts over real progress. By investing in American workers and businesses, the U.S. can reclaim its edge. The crowd fell silent as Vance laid out a vision that challenges decades of failed policies.
