The Myth of Deindustrialization

The Wall Stree Journal ^ | August 6, 2007 | JOEL KOTKIN

[Toddsterpatriot]

It's been a quarter-century since author John Naisbitt blithely described manufacturing as a "declining sport" that Americans could easily offshore to Asia. Since then obituaries for U.S. manufacturing, both mournful and enraged, have been written many times...Snip...

Manufacturing's role in promoting job and income growth is often understated. Although overall industrial jobs have diminished by almost five million since the late 1970s, the loss has been concentrated largely in lower-skilled positions. The number of higher-skilled positions, with a median hourly wage of $24, jumped by more than 36% between 1983 and 2002 to nearly 4.5 million, according to a 2006 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Ping!

[1rudeboy]

But . . . but . . . [sound of skulls imploding].

[wideawake]

Bad news for the Buchanan/Reese/Sobran/Roberts/Rockwell/Paul/Fleming/Kucinich crew on FR.

[1rudeboy]

[thinking furiously] "Must . . . find . . . way to . . . demagogue . . . this issue."

[Nuc1]

They can quote any statics they want, but if you are going to build a new nuclear plant you get the reactor vessel overseas because we cannot make them anymore. Want a large steam turbine generator to go along with it? You will get it from overseas because we do not have the heavy industrial base to make them anymore. We used to lead the world in this arena now the world leads us.

[xjcsa]

Bad news for the Buchanan/Reese/Sobran/Roberts/Rockwell/Paul/Fleming/Kucinich crew on FR.

Ditto for Tancredo and Hunter.

[1rudeboy]

Oh, really? I'm not in the market for a nuclear reactor vessel at the moment, but if I was I'd call Westinghouse/Toshiba or possibly General Electric. Problem is, they're kinda' busy building nuclear reactors overseas. Because we don't have the balls to build them here.

[cripplecreek]

The screw America for a buck crowd will say whatever it takes but I don’t thing real Americans are mesmerized by them any more.

[Mikey_1962]

Manufacturing jobs, as a whole, have been decreasing worldwide.

High wage low skill jobs of the 1960’s disappeared in the US a long time ago. Some were outsourced overseas but far more were absorbed by automation.

The switch to automation produced a group of high wage high skill jobs that are still growing... but you have to train yourself to do something productive. Its not like falling off a log.

[expat_panama]

...quote any statics they want, but if you are going to build a new nuclear plant...

Ah.  So because of something you came across with some nuke equipment, you're now telling us that there's absolutely no dollar amount of manufacturing sales, no headcount of manufacturing employees, and no amount of new factories being built that could possibly change your mind.  Ever.

That's ok, everyone needs some kind of religion.

[1rudeboy]

Much like the Big Government crowd won’t stop. And they’re winning. And you’re the one mezmerized.

[1rudeboy]

1rudeboy's 1-Step Plan to Vitalize the Nuclear Reactor Industry:

Step 1: build them here.

[wolfcreek]

They’re talking about building one, maybe two here in Texas. The two we have are safe and efficient, do see why we can’t build more.

With the way China and others are F...ing up, manufacturing jobs might return to the US in a big way.

[familyop]

"The screw America for a buck crowd will say whatever it takes but I don’t thing real Americans are mesmerized by them any more."

...agreed. I'll have no sympathy for enemy sympathizers funding nuclear military buildups of commie nations, as the changes leading to their decline are beginning to occur.

Enemy sympathizers cannot get something for nothing indefinitely. The dollar must fall in an international economy. Oil will go up. Larger wars will happen.

[expat_panama]

Mmmmm.

Simple yet elegant.

[pissant]

What percentage of the worlds Machine Tools do we make still?

[1rudeboy]

I'm not so optimistic. As someone mentioned above, the number of manufacturing jobs world-wide has been declining for decades. It's only those Conservatives-who-know-what's-best-for-the-rest-of-us™ who think that bringing a job pulling a lever back home is a net positive.

[TheDon]

Wish they would be some more here in Cali!

[1rudeboy]

I remember Willie Green bringing that up. I linked him to the U.S. Machine Tools Manufacturers' Association (or whatever industry group it was), and he ran bawling into the night.