What's happening here is that as a result of the development of fiber-optic communications technology, many middle-income jobs are being outsourced to other countries.
The Internet's earliest development stretched back to 1969, but Smarr helped speed its development by building the National Science Foundation's fiber backbone.
By applying billions of dollars to research and development into new manufacturing processes and materials like carbon fiber, companies like GE have kept some of their most expensive and profitable products in factories in the U.S. It means high-paying jobs for workers with a specialized skills and the psychological capacity to work in a variety of roles.