Free Republic

Like a crazed serial killer, the liberal green groups are celebrating their “victory” of putting America’s major coal producers out of business — to say nothing of the tens of thousands of miners placed in unemployment lines. Several thousand more mining jobs were lost last month. Now to get their next homicidal high, the leftists have turned their ambitions on the oil and natural gas industries. Here is how the Sierra Club spokeswoman, Lena Moffit, explains the grand, green vision: “We have moved to a very clear and firm and vehement position of opposing gas. We oppose any new gas-fired...

...an economist would say this happens because of inefficiency, and the failure of manufacturing is all part of the “creative destruction” that is an essential engine of capitalism. But what I have seen here in the heartland of the United States is only the destruction; the creation takes place offshore. Making a god of efficiency denigrates the much more important goal of effectiveness. Efficiency (as Peter Drucker writes) is doing the thing right, while effectiveness is doing the right thing. Of course, ideologues firmly believe that effectiveness is purely automatic: Progress is inevitable! But that is not the reality I...

For the last two years, we’ve listened as presidential candidates promised repeatedly to “bring back manufacturing jobs.” But they really didn’t go anywhere. As the data show, manufacturing output is near its all-time high. Since 1980, factory output has grown 114%, while the number of factory jobs has shrunk by 36%, or nearly 7 million jobs total. It was technology and productivity, not China or any other nation, that “took” factory jobs.

Blue collar Democrats are turning against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and say they plan to vote for Donald Trump in November. Several callers on Breitbart News Daily, hosted by Stephen K. Bannon on SiriusXM 125, say they were appalled by the Democrats’ refusal to take on the threat of radical Islam, and think Trump understood what it would take to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

If anyone was "worried" about the Verizon strike taking away 35,000 jobs from the pro forma whisper number of 200,000 with consensus expecting 160,000 jobs, or worried about a rate hike by the Fed any time soon, you can sweep all worries away: moments ago the BLS reported that in May a paltry 38,000 jobs were added, a plunge from last month's downward revised 123K (was 160K). The number was the lowest since September 2010! There is no way to spin this number as anything but atrocious.

3D printing technologies have made a big impact in a diverse range of manufacturing industries, from architecture, to healthcare, to aerospace, and to the automotive industries. Now it seems another manufacturing industry will be exploring and capitalizing on 3D printing technology, by taking it to sea. That is, German yacht and motor boat manufacturer HanseYachts AG has announced that it has integrated 3D printing technologies into its yacht design and production. The company, which was founded in 1990 and which is one of the largest manufacturers of seagoing sail yachts in the world, has decided to embrace the potentials of...

The slow, painful demise of Sears continues. The struggling retailer, which also owns equally troubled Kmart, reported a loss of $471 million in the first quarter, worse than a year ago. Sales fell more than 8%. Sears (SHLD) also announced that it may sell three of its iconic brands -- Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard. The company said it is looking at strategic alternatives for its Home Services installation and repair businesses as well. These three brands -- dubbed KCD by the company -- are still well-known and popular. In a pre-recorded call for analysts and investors, CFO Rob Schriesheim said...

Lawmakers want company to stay away from terror regimeMembers of Congress have summoned the heads of airplane giant Boeing to a meeting to encourage the company to stop spearheading efforts to reenter the Iranian marketplace, a business pursuit that is jointly backed by the Obama administration, according to a letter sent Friday to Boeing leadership and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.Boeing, like its French rival AirBus, has been working to woo the Iranian government following last summer’s comprehensive nuclear agreement.Officials at Boeing—a top U.S. government contractor—opened discussions with Iran last month. The company is hoping to sell its aircraft...

Here we have a side-by-side comparison of the humblest of fruits from two industrial powerhouses: simple bearings made in China and Germany. Both are advertised, per the description, as "weapons-grade," though apparently the German version costs a good 30 times as much.

If there is one thing that Democrats and Republicans always seem to agree on, it’s this: Manufacturing jobs are the key to economic success in this country. We’ve got to “revitalize” the manufacturing sector if the economy is to generate strong job growth and economic expansion. That’s just such total hogwash, because it’s not true and it’s not reflective of reality. To begin with, it’s always been difficult to understand why “manufacturing jobs” are so sacrosanct in many peoples’ minds. What is it about sitting in front of an assembly line for hours on end, repeating the same task of...

Most, if not all, of those manufacturing jobs are gone because of better technology, not Mexico As the primary season progresses,... ...candidates continue to peddle some version of a promise to “bring back jobs and manufacturing to America.” Voters clinging to this hope need to steel themselves for a letdown. Here’s why. No matter how you measure it, 2015 was a record year for manufacturing... ...Manufacturing employment peaked nationwide in 1977. Since then... ...makes twice as much “stuff” in an hour as he or she did in 1977... ...In the 1930s, more than half of American household consumption was in...

One of the rallying cries of the Fight for $15 movement is that employers like McDonald’s (MCD) make billions in profits on the backs of taxpayers. In the view of the political left, companies shouldn’t be credited for employing large numbers of workers with modest skills, but rather vilified for paying so little that workers need to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and earned income tax credits. Now that same low-wage argument used against the fast-food industry and Wal-Mart (WMT) is being brought to bear against a surprising target: manufacturers. It seems that even as Donald Trump has vowed to...

Sprawling dormitory complex outside Shanghai housed workers who spend 12 hours a day making Apple products Eerie images show austere eight and 12-bed rooms and filthy 'bathrooms' where workers used communal showers Workers operated water taps by pedalling and squatting toilet cubicles positioned over open sewerage drains Dorms can house 6,000 workers at a time but were abandoned hurriedly, with mementos left behind Impoverished men and women from countryside work 12-hour shifts for £250 a month and pay £16 to live in dorms Mold and mildew crawl up the walls of the communal bathrooms and the tiny, austere rooms are...

Only rarely does water flow uphill, do clocks run backwards, or does hell freeze over. And it’s even more rare when an MSM-er doesn’t trash Donald Trump. Michael Hirsh is a certifiably blue-chip establishment journalist: His resume includes stints at Newsweek and National Journal, and he is now the national editor at Politico.

The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index eased to 50.8 in April from 51.8 in March, but it remained positive for a second straight month. Economists had predicted a slight decline to 51.5 amid less-robust reports on regional manufacturing activity last month. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 point to contraction. The undershooting in April largely reflected excess inventories, which may keep keep a lid on the upturn in production in coming months. But the good news for U.S. manufacturing and for corporate earnings is that the dollar continues to lose ground. The U.S. dollar index edged...

The Donald Trump effect: Ford will invest $1.6 billion in two U.S. factories. Ford Motor Co will invest $1.6 billion in two U.S. factories to start making a new automatic transmission and expand output of certain commercial trucks, the company said on Tuesday. Ford said the moves would support a total of 650 jobs but would not say how many new ones would be created. The announcement comes three weeks after Ford said it would spend $1.6 billion to build a new vehicle assembly plant in Mexico, drawing fire from Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. Ford has countered that...

Half a century ago, harvesting California’s 2.2 million tons of tomatoes for ketchup required as many as 45,000 workers. In the 1960s, though, scientists and engineers at the University of California, Davis, developed an oblong tomato that lent itself to being machine-picked and an efficient mechanical harvester to do the job in one pass through a field. The battle to save jobs was on... ...These days, the battle to save American jobs has a different flavor... ...In America’s factories, jobs are inevitably disappearing, too. But despite the political rhetoric, the problem is not mainly globalization. Manufacturing jobs are on the...

“Governor Pence was pleased to welcome Mr. Trump back to Indiana and hear firsthand his plans for the country. The Governor was also grateful for the opportunity to describe Indiana's economic success and expressed his desire to have a partner in the White House who will help advance pro-growth economic policies, reduce burdensome regulation and curb the size and scope of government. With more than 130,000 new private sector jobs created since he took office, Governor Pence believes addressing these issues is critical in order for Indiana to continue to be a great place to live, work and raise a...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/features/2016-04-21/trump-wave-builds-in-a-steel-town-forsaken-by-the-world-economy

Back in 2011, we wrote about a fascinating new way to heat-treat regular, cheap steel to endow it with an almost miraculous blend of characteristics. Radically cheaper, quicker and less energy-intensive to produce, Flash Bainite is stronger than titanium by weight, and ductile enough to be pressed into shape while cold without thinning or cracking. It's now being tested by three of the world's five largest car manufacturers, who are finding they can produce thinner structural car components that are between 30-50 percent lighter and cheaper than the steel they've been using, while maintaining the same performance is crash tests....