CAPACITY UTILIZATION

Say 'excess capacity'. An economist's term.

The US offshored or closed much of its 'capacity'.

Others' capacity, while having grown, still lacks 'demand'.

Why?

Here's a harder question:

Why grow foreign capacity in the first place,

unless your back is to the wall?

One answer (ala the Marshall Plan): To stabilize regimes necessary to one's own national security.

That may be the only correct answer.

FN, April 2014:
The beauty of this, and the horror, really, of our politics, is that both liberals and conservatives, here, would disagree vehemently with me about this.