Posted on 12/01/2003 4:31:00 PM PST by Willie Green
•Some claimed NAFTA would contribute to U.S. industrial decline and a “giant sucking sound.” But after NAFTA was passed in 1993:
--U.S. manufacturing output soared in the 1990s, up 44% in real terms.
--U.S. employment grew over 20 million between 1993 and 2000.
--U.S. manufacturing wages increased dramatically, with real hourly compensation up by 14.4% in the 10 years since NAFTA, more than double the 6.5% increase in the 10 years preceding NAFTA.
--Income gains and tax cuts from NAFTA were worth up to $930 each year for the average U.S. household of four.
http://ustr.gov/regions/whemisphere/ftaa2003/factsheet-myth-nafta_us.pdf
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This is where the problem lies. Our entire economy is funded by credit card debt and other easy money loans. This has been a growing trend for quite a while (since at least Bush I, probably before) and isn't much the fault of any administration.
Eventually, maybe soon maybe not, the bills will all come due. What'll we do then?
Pay them.
Yes, educate yourself.
For somebody who lives in the region, you're embarrassingly misguided.
And if you think that cheerleading the steel industry to its death is going to bring prosperity to your community, you're extremely mistaken as well.
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Bush hater to the bone...
Absolutely correct. Now lets talk about the reasons for my absolute disgust instead of just name-calling like a third grader. An immigration policy that is essential an invasion over our borders subsidized by our social service system. Statements of America's obligation to "share it's wealth" with the rest of the world. A refusal to see islam for the aggressive psychosis that it is and a threat to world civilization. Ramaden dinners at the White House during a period in which Christianity is under siege by separation of church and state. An ignorance of economics. A resume that's a joke. An absence of creative or assertive thought contributing to a conservative momentum. ...and so forth.
You can also do very, very well with McDonalds. I've know several very wealthy senior McDonalds people and McDonalds franchise owners. Cream always rises to the top (untill the milk gets homogenized, anyway)
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Bush hater to the bone...
Absolutely correct. Now lets talk about the reasons for my absolute disgust instead of just name-calling like a third grader. An immigration policy that is essential an invasion over our borders subsidized by our social service system. Statements of America's obligation to "share it's wealth" with the rest of the world. A refusal to see islam for the aggressive psychosis that it is and a threat to world civilization. Ramaden dinners at the White House during a period in which Christianity is under siege by separation of church and state. An ignorance of economics. A resume that's a joke. An absence of creative or assertive thought contributing to a conservative momentum. ...and so forth.
If the Clintons were back in office doing the same thing Bush is, people here would be howling to the heavens. As it is, many people come here to do nothing but defend their wrongful and wishful preconceptions about Bush.
Dear god, please come up with another Ronald Reagan instead of this stream of spoiled weaklings.
Job Growth Returns to Sector After Three Years of Decline
By MICHAEL SCHROEDER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- Manufacturing in November showed the most robust activity in two decades, lifting employment in the sector higher than expected.
The Institute for Supply Management, a private research firm, said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 62.8 last month from 57 in October.
Providing solid evidence of an improving manufacturing jobs picture, the ISM employment index climbed to 51 from 47.7. The last time the employment gauge was above 50 was September 2000.
Readings of at least 50 point to strong growth in the industrial sector, which has lagged behind other sectors as the economy digs out of the recession that started in 2001.
Economists had expected the industrial index would rise to 59, according to a survey by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC.
Calling the survey results "astonishing," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics Ltd., said the latest reading is consistent with year-over-year growth in gross domestic product of about 7%. He added that the employment survey suggests "the three-year run of industrial job losses will soon end."
Meanwhile, construction spending increased 0.9% in October as still low mortgage rates drove residential home building to unprecedented levels. Big gains were registered in public projects as federal and state governments have ramped up spending.
Overall construction spending rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $922 billion, the highest level on record, from an upwardly revised $913.5 billion in September, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Private residential construction spending rose 2.2% to a record $484.1 billion, while private nonresidential construction slipped 2.1%. The decline, the steepest since a 2.3% drop last December, was driven by weakness in construction of commercial facilities, power plants and factories.
The economic reports suggest that growth is likely to continue. "Based on this data, it appears that the recovery is gaining momentum," Norbert Ore, who directs the survey for the ISM, said in a statement. "Indications are that the manufacturing sector is ending 2003 on a very positive note, and all of the indexes support continued strength into 2004."
The ISM survey's backlog-of-orders index increased to 59 in November from 53.5 a month earlier, an indication that orders exceeded production during the month.
Write to Michael Schroeder at mike.schroeder@wsj.com
Updated December 1, 2003 12:42 p.m
I don't know what this is supposed to mean. I'm not cheerleading anything. I'm disgusted with the greedy steelworkers' unions, the federal government's oppressive environmental regulations and with the shoddy mismanagement of the steel companies. The only thing that's going to save this region is an influx of diverse industries. I don't see it happening, especially with the current crop of Democrat-controlled governments. Your other insults do not merit response.
Paid training, benefits are decent, overtime available, and they'd almost kill for someone to volunteer for the graveyard shift (15% pay bonus). They're having a heck of a time finding reliable people. FReepmail me if you're interested.
I made a suggestion, I did not "name-call".
An immigration policy that is essential an invasion over our borders subsidized by our social service system. Statements of America's obligation to "share it's wealth" with the rest of the world. A refusal to see islam for the aggressive psychosis that it is and a threat to world civilization. Ramaden dinners at the White House during a period in which Christianity is under siege by separation of church and state.
I agree.
An ignorance of economics. A resume that's a joke. An absence of creative or assertive thought contributing to a conservative momentum. ...and so forth.
I disagree.
FReegards,
Tom Eaker
Now if only they had bought American-made, Thomasville furniture while they still could.
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