American Manufacturing Stronger than Ever
On of the greatest myths in modern political discourse is that American manufacturing is disappearing. This is far from the truth.
The United States makes more manufactured goods today than at any time in history, as measured by the dollar value of production adjusted for inflation -- three times as much as in the mid-1950s, the supposed heyday of American industry. Between 1977 and 2005, the value of American manufacturing swelled from $1.3 trillion to an all-time record $4.5 trillion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
With less than 5 percent of the world's population, the United States is responsible for almost one-fourth of global manufacturing, a share that has changed little in decades. The United States is the largest manufacturing economy by far. Japan, the only serious rival for that title, has been losing ground. China has been growing but represents only about one-tenth of world manufacturing.
However, it is true that manufacturing jobs have shrunk, and those that remain require skills far beyond that of a shop floor worker from 50 years ago. Today's factories are computerized, and today's workers are educated and skilled.
So yes, American manufacturing is strong. It does not, however, employ the masses as it once did, nor will it ever do so again. We must adapt. Another reason I continue to believe that fixing our educational systems is our second highest domestic priority (the first being homeland security).
Blog post #6775 in category
Economics
posted 4 September 07
Ask Fred about Murray in his home town and why he supports NAFTA?
Posted by mickey on Tuesday at 12:25 PM
The bottom line is jobs.
The U.S. lost 46,000 manufacturing jobs in August 2007. More significantly, the ongoing losses are taking a cumulative toll on communities throughout the country. We need to adequately enforce our trade laws, and hold countries like China accountable for illegal trading practices such as currency manipulation. Otherwise, we’ll continue to shed manufacturing jobs.
Posted by Steven Capozzola on Monday at 10:08 AM
Please share your stories about lost manufacturing jobs.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing is a national, non-partisan group dedicated to strengthening U.S. manufacturing. AAM’s blog, ManufactureThis.org, covers issues related to U.S. manufacturing jobs and is compiling firsthand accounts of factory closings and lost jobs.
AAM invites people to share their stories about lost manufacturing jobs, either by emailing Steven Capozzola at scapozzola@aamfg.org, or by posting a comment directly on the blog, www.manufacturethis.org.
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Posted by Steven Capozzola on Tuesday at 11:57 AM