Unemployment in the United States—Economic Inequality in the Context of Industrial-technological Upgrading and Outsourcing in the United States Since the 1990s

There is significant concern that industrial-technological upgrading and outsourcing in the United States have led to increased economic inequality since the 1990s. In the fourth Industrial Revolution, computerization, automation, and artificial intelligence allowed American companies to preserve their technological core competencies and outsource non-core activities to foreign countries. This paper aims to provide the classical vocabulary on this topic, an analysis of the U.S.’s industrial-technological upgrading and outsourcing circumstances, and an explanation of their influence on the widening economic gap since the 1990s. This paper found that the three trends share a synchronous and reinforcing relationship, which can find support in Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory. Businesses that engaged in outsourcing activities benefited financially. While low-skilled and high-skilled workers are both at risk of losing their jobs because of improved technology, the former is more vulnerable. Industrial-technological upgrading facilitates outsourcing, and outsourcing facilitates the former in return. They both contribute to a widening economic gap. This paper was written when many questions arose on the subject. It connects industrial-technological upgrading with outsourcing, which previous research failed to do.