Kurt,
I like your assessment and positive outlook on the economy, but in reality in a real "open market" things don't turn out that way. Profits is the major goal and bottom line of course, therefore corporation goes to the best options to produce the same quality of goods with lower over head costs to increase profits and stock values for the company and shareholder, NOT the workers.
Allow me to give you a personal example, my father works at Goodman Manufacturing base here in Houston for 19 years and counting. At the time when he first worked there, it was a dream job for him and anyone else, working there. They get paid $18/hr, plus benefits such as medical and dental (even for their spouse), 4 free movie tickets at the end of every month, free Thanksgiving Day turkey, free Christmas Day hams (yes for everyone even part time employee). What does Goodman makes? They make air conditioner for residents and commercial. The CEO/ owner at the time was a great leader at running things and keeping profits at a descent at all times. Fast forward 15 later after the Mr. Goodman Sr. had passed away and the elder son took over the family business. To put it mildly, he suck as a both a leader and businessman. He took away half of the benefits that I described above, lower wages for new employees, and outsource a lot of the trucking and transportation to another company instead of an in house truckers. After two or three years the son sold the business to someone else (supposedly to foreign company) but retain the business name. As a result they cut wages and benefits even further, plus laying off another thousand workers that worked there for 3 - 7 years to reduced cost. New employees now gets paid $9.25/hr. with NO benefits or bonuses whats so ever. My dad was lucky because since he was one of the few experienced and older sheet metal presser at the assembly line he was exempt from the cuts. Now he is only one of a hand full of the older skilled workers there left. He told me the new guys takes awhile to teach and when they do work, they don't stay at the company for long. Well, sorry for the long story, but that's the reality of today's business (especially) manufacturing here in Ameri2)ca. Yes my father still works there for his current $15/hr. down from the previous $18, but he's happy and fortunate to have a job for a man his age (62).