Posted on 07/05/2014 6:34:06 AM PDT by shove_it
When people talk about the “decline of U.S. manufacturing” over the past 10 years or so, they are not talking about some ephemeral or nebulous evaporation of demand or an unquantifiable off-shoring of jobs. Generally, they are not even talking about a dramatic decline in the relative amount of value added by manufacturing to overall gross domestic product, because since 2005 that share has only fallen from 13 percent to 12.4 percent. This is significant, but not staggering.
By comparison, the contribution from the finance and insurance industry fell by a full percentage point, from 7.6 to 6.6 percent, over the same period, and the contribution from construction fell 1.4 percentage points from 5.0 to 3.6 percent. Overall manufacturing output has also been fairly resilient and has generally followed the ebb and flow of the economy at large, not the downward death spiral that doomsday propagandists describe. Our factories are producing as much value now as they were before the financial crisis and more value than in 2000, when real output peaked before a contraction that coincided with the bursting of the dot-com bubble.
When people describe the decline of U.S. manufacturing, most often they are referring directly to the dramatic decline in overall manufacturing employment over the past decade. In 2003, manufacturing employed about 14.5 people in the U.S. — come 2013, that number fell to 12.0 million. At its most-recent peak in the late 1990s (manufacturing employment has been in decline for a long time), the industry employed 17.5 million people. At its most-recent low in 2010, the post-crisis pit, the industry employed just 11.5 million people...
(Excerpt) Read more at wallstcheatsheet.com ...
Part of the reason for such a dramatic decline in manufacturing employment has been productivity gains.
That’s why the Luddites were Luddites, to protect their jobs.
I sold my 2005 Honda Accord. I sold my 2009 Honda Accord. I sold my 2001 Dodge truck. I sold my 2005 325i BMW.
I now own a 2010 Ford F-150 and a 2012 Ford Explorer. Both of them have been a pleasure to own. My F-150 is now at 100,800 odd miles - I had to replace the tires at 70,000 miles, and I am on the original set of brakepads, still. (Still within factory limits, BTW). The only thing I’ve had to do for either was an oil and filter change every 5000 miles, plus wipers and tire rotations occasionally.
I’ve owned two Dodge trucks - both lost their transmissions before 100,000 plus a lot of other problems. The Hondas were okay, but they definitely couldn’t tolerate ethanol dosed gas.
I remember a lot of the steel mills in the USA (and a few in Canada) were in trouble because they never modernized. The industry in Hamilton, Ontario is still strong but they do it with fewer workers; the only way to compete with cheap overseas labour is to use less labour.
Great Lakes Steel had computer controlled rolling mills in the early 1960s. It was astounding to me that management allowed Japanese engineers tour these mills with their Nicon cameras - they soon stole the technology and the steel business.
IIRC it was the 1970s when a lot of the heavy industries here stopped innovating.
If you look at the events occurring in this country today with this particular tyrannical government, how can you condemn the freer parts of capitalistic enterprise in China? Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.
Do you really want to deprive these capitalist leaning enclaves the opportunity to enlist more proponents of that system of business and beliefs because they exist under the aegis of a communistic government? I submit that this country is/has become majority socialist (maybe tending to communistic for some liberal states). It’s no different to me.
Dissent in China may grow, especially if some portion sees capitalism as a new way. Here in this country, liberal oppressive dogma in Blue States only seeks to redistribute income from workers to leeches and decide the freedoms of the individuals instead of following the Constitution, and in the process, fuel a national government that is intent on radically transforming traditional America into a third or fourth world crap hole.
If you work hard enough, you can find a bit of Democrat, China or “gay” in darn near every product or organization.
Yesterday’s Independence Day parade there was a Pearl Harbor Survivor riding in a Honda SUV. Seemed like only a handful of us old guys caught the irony.
China may (or may not) become freer.
Right now, they remain completely communist. China is a communist country.
We are being extremely unwise, to de-industrialize America, on the questionable bet China is becoming freer.
Bring back jobs to America.
We are a free country. We have opposing parties, and yet we send jobs to a communist country, which is also racially based?
I say stop exporting everything.
Wake the heck up.
Oh sorry.
Second to the last paragraph, “stop importing everything”.
:D
I understand your examples and certainly can at least take them on face value. However, to me it isn’t a blurry decision for Massachusetts or Connecticut or NYC, Chicago, Detroit, et al. They are full-blown oppressive, mindlessly despotic.
To me, I’ve have been more insulted and incensed to see the survivor riding in a GM SUV, because the Japanese were eventually brought around to the light-side, whereas as far as I’m concerned, GM is a tool of a tyrannical government.
I agree that we need to bring jobs back to America. I am not in favor of rewarding states that endorse tyranny with manufacturing jobs. Frankly, they can all go the way of Detroit. I don’t care.
I don’t understand choosing Chicoms over unions.
There’s a lot wrong with unions, but at the end of the day the members are my American brothers and sisters, and I would much rather they work than steal.
We have an area of agreement.
What can we do, in that area of agreement.
America needs jobs. I do not disagree with your points. However China is now our biggest competitor, and is becoming stronger every single day.
America is not becoming stronger, because we import everything we buy, from China.
We are losing, at the moment.
Agree. I don’t intentionally look for Chinese goods, but I’m not shy about choosing China over, say, Massachusetts.
China, at least has some hope of redemption to the light side; Massachusetts (by decades of evidence) does not. No question.
Actually I agree more with post 32.
America needs jobs.
“work than steal....”
Haha! They ARE stealing and will steal unendingly unless they are stopped. If you can conclusively show me where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, I will reconsider your argument.
It is not as simple as were was it made. iPhones are assembled in China but the design, engineering, marketing, sales, administration, etc. and PROFITS are here in the US. China only receives the smallest of slivers of the overall value. If Apple had to pay US labor rates and worse of all comply with all of the idiotic and wasteful US laws they would probably not be competitive and the vast amount of jobs and wealth created in this country would be lost.
I love making things here. I owned a US manufacturing company but I bought cheap things from China that helped me generate better paying iobs here. But our government is making life miserable for manufactures.
“China, at least has some hope of redemption to the light side; Massachusetts (by decades of evidence) does not. No question.”
—
So there are decades of evidence against Massachusetts but there are NOT decades of evidence against China?
What am I missing here?
.
Actually, I don’t care if you understand or not. There is absolutely no evidence or reason Massachusetts will EVER see the light. One can plainly see from trends and practices that one is improving and the other still irretrievably devolving.
You can spend your money where you want to. This country is still at least free enough for you to do that as long as healthcare isn’t involved. But I’m not going to be convinced by convoluted logic that goes solely by past performance and doesn’t consider current and trending performance.
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