Yes, as well as the fact that really big profits only happen when people are paid far less than they are worth. The problem is that we convince people that their labor isn't worth much. There is no way that a CEO's compensation is worth 800 times that of the average worker but that is part of the meritocracy in America and the UK. Not so much in Europe where the multiplier is 8 to 1.
However to retrieve the essence of the topic - there are fewer smokestacks in America because most of that kind of industry has gone offshore and is happily polluting third world countries. Polluting behavior in America ultimately became very expensive - lawsuits up the ying yang and an incremental rise in insurance premiums, along with significant exclusions to coverage.