You think we don't make anything here anymore yet we continue to set records for manufacturing output.Okay. Put up. Right now. Put up, or go run for the tall grass.
Show me, without ANY DOLLAR NUMBERS ...but only UNIT-PRODUCTION NUMBERS that we make more cars in the U.S. More planes. More computers. More widgits.
I, and virtually EVERYBODY HERE AT FREE REPUBLIC knows your side can't do it. Or at least, won't.
You would have done it before now if you could with a corrupt CATO, not to mention John Snow and Robert Zoellick striving mightily to spin national discussion of the issue.
Everything is based on company dollar sales...not actual U.S.-located production activity. The facts show that non-defense U.S.-production is declining...even with DOD procurement included!... not growing:
And while wanting to believe the Executive branch, note what the CBO reports:
The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years. In January 2004, the number of such jobs stood at 14.3 million, down by 3.0 million jobs, or 17.5 percent, since July 2000 and about 5.2 million since the historical peak in 1979. Employment in manufacturing was its lowest since July 1950 (see Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Manufacturing Employment
(Millions of jobs)
Sources: Congressional Budget Office; Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And clearly not unrelated, is the predatory pattern of Pacific Rim manufactures exports to the U.S., not to mention China:
The United States' Trade Balance with China, 1989 to 2002 (In billions of dollars)
BTW: I have yet to meet a free trader who was as light-hearted and joyful to be around as the average economic conservative. The dismal science doesn't get me down. Whereas just look at your standard model glass-half-full spin-meister: Alan Greenspan. THERE is a load of laughs and a bundle of joy! LOL!
So, shall we play pin the tail on you again, donkey?
Okay. Put up. Right now. Put up, or go run for the tall grass. Economic Eeyores are never intimidating.
First of all, manufacturing employment has been shrinking worldwide.
U.S. manufacturing jobs are down by 2.45 million in the past three years [200-2003]. The zero-sum view of the world imagines that these jobs went somewhere else—specifically that American jobs were exported to a country with lower wages.
However, America is not alone in experiencing declines in manufacturing jobs. U.S. manufacturing employment declined by 11 percent between 1995 and 2002, which is identical to the average world decline according to a study by Alliance Capital Management.[22] Contrary to the myth, China’s losses were even sharper: 15 percent of its industrial jobs over the same period.
The real culprits for declining numbers of manufacturing jobs in all countries are increasing productivity, capital investment, and technological innovation. Although manufacturing jobs have declined in America over the past decade, U.S. manufacturing output has jumped by 38 percent. Today, the U.S. manufacturing sector produces more than the entire Chinese economy.
The False Crisis of Outsourcing
without ANY DOLLAR NUMBERS ...but only UNIT-PRODUCTION NUMBERS
Thank goodness for solid conservative economists like Bruce Bartlett to refute your conclusions.
"Falling manufacturing employment in the United States has led to a widespread impression that the industrial sector of our economy is declining. Critics of free trade on both the left and right are proposing more trade protection to keep out foreign goods - or at least to save American jobs.
The truth is that U.S. manufacturing is doing quite well in every way except in the number of people it employs. Furthermore, few economists would judge the health or sickness of any industry based solely on employment. By that standard, agriculture has been the sickest industry of all for decades because employment has declined - although farm productivity rose dramatically in the past century. Industrial health is better measured by output, productivity, profitability and wages.
In contrast to employment, industrial production has remained relatively strong. The Federal Reserve Board's industrial production index - which covers industrial sector output, capacity and capacity utilization - has fluctuated only slightly since 1998, despite a recession in the meantime.
Considering total goods production (including things like mining and agriculture in addition to manufacturing), real goods production as a share of real (inflation-adjusted) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is close to its all-time high.
- In the second quarter of 2003, real goods production was 39.2 percent of real GDP; the highest annual figure ever recorded was 40 percent in 2000. See the Figure.
- By contrast, in the "good old days" of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the United States actually produced far fewer goods as a share of total output, reaching 35.5 percent in the midst of World War II.
Looking at manufacturing alone, over the long term one finds it has also grown. In 2001, in inflation-adjusted terms it was 16.2 percent of GDP, which is higher than it was during the recession of 1991 (16 percent).
It is critical to adjust the figures for inflation in order to make a valid comparison. The price of many goods such as computers has fallen sharply. Since GDP data are calculated in money rather than volume terms, failure to account for price changes gives a distorted picture. For example, suppose the output of a product rose by 10 percent in terms of units while falling 10 percent in price due to higher productivity. Using nominal dollar figures makes it appear there was no increase in output. Using real data captures the increase.
American workers are still the most productive in the world.
U.S. workers produced an average of $71,600 in output (in 1999 dollars), followed in a not-so-close second by Belgium, where each worker produced $64,100.
Japanese workers - renowned for their productivity - each produced just $51,600 and Korean workers produced even less: $34,600.
Conclusion:
In short, U.S. manufacturing is very healthy. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that we are becoming a nation of "hamburger flippers." The United States is producing more "things" than we have in almost every year for which we have data. The decline in employment is a good thing because it signals that manufacturing productivity is very high and that manufacturers can afford high-wage U.S. workers while still competing with low-wage workers in the developing world.
Bruce Bartlett: The State of US Manufacturing
Apparently, manufacturing output is up almost 50% since 1992
Source
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