Rates of U.S. investment in new plants, technology, and research and development began declining during the 1970s, a fall-off that only accelerated in the gilded 1980s. Manufacturing, which accounted for nearly 30% of the economy after the Second World War, had dropped to just over 10% by 2011. Since the turn of the millennium alone, 3.5 million more manufacturing jobs have vanished and 42,000 manufacturing plants were shuttered.
Members of the U.S. Army Charlie Company pass a secondary explosion en route to Baghdad, Iraq, April 2003. Christopher Morris/VII
Ropes from the hangman’s gallows are seen in Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad, Iraq, where political and criminal prisoners from the war were held, April 19, 2003. Ron Haviv/VII
A mosaic of Saddam Hussein lies in ruins on the road to Basra, southern Iraq, March 28, 2003. Antonin Kratochvil/VII
Iraqi civilians killed by inappropriate use of force by U.S. Marines during the battle for Diyala bridge are seen in Baghdad, Iraq. April 8, 2003. Gary Knight/VII
The body of a dead Iraqi fighter lies outside the Technical School Compound in Basra, southern Iraq, during a weeks-long battle between British forces and Iraqi fighters over control of the city, April 3, 2003. Antonin Kratochvil/VII
The burial of Fedayn, who was killed during a U.S. air strike, is held at the Baratha cemetery in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 1, 2003. Franco Pagetti/VII
Members of the U.S. Special Forces perform a target raid where they have arrested two al Qaeda supporters in Samarra, Salah ad Din Province, Iraq, Sept. 28, 2007. Franco Pagetti/VII
U.S. troops of Charlie Company remove a dead body from the road in the northern outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, April 2003. Christopher Morris/VII
The body of a man who was killed during fighting in Iraq lies on a gurney, March 25, 2003. Alexandra Boulat/VII
