Steve, as bad as the oil bust was in the 80's, and it was bad (I knew a lot of people in Tulsa with Geology and Engineering degrees working in convenience stores) it was a relatively short term event compared to what is going to happen with the decline of manufacturing. It is not just a simple matter of switching to a different job sector. What does the service sector service? The bulk of the demand for the upper level service sector (heavy construction, engineering and even a significant portion of legal services) is manufacturing. No manufacturing; no need for those services, and growth in natural resource extraction will not make up for the loss in manufacturing. I am not much impressed with the current employment numbers you cite. Stability of employment is only being maintained by the current surge in natural resource extraction, and that, as we both know, can shut off almost overnight, like it did in the early '80's. That is why I was asking you what the end game was. Where are we going to be 20 years down the road?

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