Posted on 01/25/2024 8:44:16 PM PST by jfd1776
In an election year, candidates from both sides will generally declare that we need more domestic manufacturing, and they promise to make it happen.
Different sides will propose different ways to accomplish it. Republicans will call for lower tax rates and lighter regulations; Democrats will call for open borders and higher punitive tariffs. Each side hates the other’s methods; nothing gets done.
Does this really matter?
There are economists, investment advisors, even politicians out there, who will say it doesn’t matter. They will say we need business, of course; but as long as there are transactions happening, that’s economic growth. They don’t think we need to delve deeper.
But we do — so let’s delve.
OUTSOURCING
A manufacturer employs a host of people to develop and market products; purchase and process raw materials or components; assemble buildable elements into a finished good; and package it all up for shipping and delivery.
There has been no collaborative decision between manufacturers to outsource any of those steps; these decisions are made business by business, product line by product line, and even component by component.
Consider an appliance manufacturer that used to injection-mold its own housings and dials, assemble its own motors and pumps, wrap its own power cable, program its own control panels, and assemble the finished product, ready to sell....
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Because when you manufacture something, you are creating goods for others...similar to the farmer.
You have created goods that did not exist before.
Everyone in the chain, from the raw material, the trucker who brings the material to the plant, the workers....all create wealth and are rewarded with payment for services.
Those who purchase the goods are furnished wuith something that makes their life better.
If all a nation does is ship raw material out of the country and accept payment for that, that nation will eventually decline. We are very close to seeing a sevre decline in the US in parte due to our loss of manufacturing.
Also, securing reliable access to cheap and abundant energy is key to any economy. All economic activity requires energy consumption, even more so with Alien Intelligence and robots. Energy cost is the root cost of everything, and ultimately determines the quality of life. The USA has 4% of the world's population but consumes 25% of the world's available energy. By no small coincidence, the USA also produces exactly the same percentage of world total GDP, and enjoys the highest standard of living.
The only thing communism ever produces is impoverished people with no option but to work for starvation wages. There's a strong moral argument against funding communist regimes by exploiting their impoverished workers. It only prolongs their suffering. And we're talking about 2 billion people here.
With the price of 3D printers falling and the technology improvements in 3D printer materials, home manufacturing is something that is becoming more feasible.
Couple that with the trend among people to has a “side hustle” to earn extra income, this country could spark a revolution in “home manufacturing” if given the right government incentives or at least if government doesn’t get in the way.
I am reminded of one east coast state that because of their fear over 3D printed firearms wanted both background checks, and waiting periods on the purchase of 3D printers.
Bureaucrats fear people with access to the truth, or cutting edge technologies. They are extremely fearful of AI right now. When Compact Disc players first became available, the bureaucrats required a signed license to buy one. They were afraid of the lasers inside.
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Adam Smith wrote about it a couple of centuries ago in “Wealth of Nations”. Wealth is CREATED only when the value of a product is worth more than the cost of the labor and materials to produce it. You can even rule the materials out of this formula since their value is created the same way. Whether it’s mining gold, growing corn, or building smart phones, the man-made value called ‘wealth’, is only created by men. It’s the value of ‘stuff’.
Some argue that land represents wealth. That may be true, but no one is creating any more of it. They’re just dividing what’s already there. It’s value can only be increased with more labor, dividing, improving, or mining in it.
So, if you want to increase the wealth of your nation, you better make sure that labor is conducted by its citizens.
Jobs, yah F**in’ peabrains. Geesh!
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