Peter1469
08-03-2016, 06:16 PM
Manufacturing in America (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/08/01/what-republicans-and-democrats-get-wrong-about-american-manufacturing/)
The issue of manufacturing in America is much more complicated than either candidate realizes. Manufacturing output is at record levels in the US. Manufacturing jobs are not. That is because of automation, robotics, and productivity.
In an op-ed (http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-griswold-globalization-and-trade-help-manufacturing-20160801-snap-story.html) for the Los Angeles Times, Daniel Griswold of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University offered an important reminder that American manufacturing is actually at a peak, not a trough. The output from U.S. factories is roughly two-and-a-half times what it was in the early 1970s, according to government data. Industrial production hit an record high just before the Great Recession and is nearing that level again.
Industrial production: manufacturingIndex 2012 = 100
50
100
1972
2016
36.9
103.9
Source: St. Louis Fed
WAPO.ST/WONKBLOG (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/)
“America remains a manufacturing powerhouse,” Griswold said in an interview. “It’s just a different mix of stuff than we were making 20 or 30 or 40 years ago.”
Clothes, toys and steel beams may come from overseas, but the United States is refining oil, producing new medicines and building plenty of cars, airplanes and heavy machinery that are shipped around the world. American factories now add a record $2.4 trillion of value to the economy, Griswold said.
Free trade has not held back the manufacturing industry, he argued; it has allowed it to thrive. More than half of goods imported are not destined for store shelves but for the factory floor, materials to be used so that American factories can make even more stuff. Here’s the explanation from his op-ed:
Access to expanding global markets allows U.S. manufacturers to enjoy economies of scale, reducing their per-unit production costs and enhancing their competitiveness. The additional revenue can be reinvested in research and development, leading to new products and expanding market share. This is why U.S. jobs in trade-oriented industries typically pay 18 percent more than non-trade-connected jobs.
The problem is that the country has achieved this massive expansion in manufacturing output with fewer and fewer workers. Government data shows manufacturing employment has dropped from more than 19 million in 1979 to about 12 million today, a whopping 37 percent decline.
A big problem in my view is that all those people making up the stats for the non-participants in the labor force participation rate are unqualified for modern jobs. If they don't get qualified they will be public wards for life.
We need to reduce their benefits over time. We must as a society take care of the needy and provide a safety net. We also must cut the ropes holding the safety hammocks in place.
The issue of manufacturing in America is much more complicated than either candidate realizes. Manufacturing output is at record levels in the US. Manufacturing jobs are not. That is because of automation, robotics, and productivity.
In an op-ed (http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-griswold-globalization-and-trade-help-manufacturing-20160801-snap-story.html) for the Los Angeles Times, Daniel Griswold of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University offered an important reminder that American manufacturing is actually at a peak, not a trough. The output from U.S. factories is roughly two-and-a-half times what it was in the early 1970s, according to government data. Industrial production hit an record high just before the Great Recession and is nearing that level again.
Industrial production: manufacturingIndex 2012 = 100
50
100
1972
2016
36.9
103.9
Source: St. Louis Fed
WAPO.ST/WONKBLOG (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/)
“America remains a manufacturing powerhouse,” Griswold said in an interview. “It’s just a different mix of stuff than we were making 20 or 30 or 40 years ago.”
Clothes, toys and steel beams may come from overseas, but the United States is refining oil, producing new medicines and building plenty of cars, airplanes and heavy machinery that are shipped around the world. American factories now add a record $2.4 trillion of value to the economy, Griswold said.
Free trade has not held back the manufacturing industry, he argued; it has allowed it to thrive. More than half of goods imported are not destined for store shelves but for the factory floor, materials to be used so that American factories can make even more stuff. Here’s the explanation from his op-ed:
Access to expanding global markets allows U.S. manufacturers to enjoy economies of scale, reducing their per-unit production costs and enhancing their competitiveness. The additional revenue can be reinvested in research and development, leading to new products and expanding market share. This is why U.S. jobs in trade-oriented industries typically pay 18 percent more than non-trade-connected jobs.
The problem is that the country has achieved this massive expansion in manufacturing output with fewer and fewer workers. Government data shows manufacturing employment has dropped from more than 19 million in 1979 to about 12 million today, a whopping 37 percent decline.
A big problem in my view is that all those people making up the stats for the non-participants in the labor force participation rate are unqualified for modern jobs. If they don't get qualified they will be public wards for life.
We need to reduce their benefits over time. We must as a society take care of the needy and provide a safety net. We also must cut the ropes holding the safety hammocks in place.