Posted on 01/17/2012 5:40:46 PM PST by Steelfish
U.S. Losing High-Tech Manufacturing Jobs To Asia
Peter Whoriskey January 17, 3:23 PM
The United States lost more than a quarter of its high-tech manufacturing jobs during the past decade as U.S.-based multinational companies placed a growing percentage of their research and development operations overseas, the National Science Board reported Tuesday.
The rapid expansion of science and engineering capabilities in China and its neighbors pose an ever more formidable economic challenge to the United States, according to the group, with Asia rapidly boosting the number of engineering doctorates it produces and research dollars it spends.
A recent study breaks down how graduates with various college degrees are faring in todays difficult job market.
The report comes as the Obama administration is seeking to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive through engineering and innovation. In June, it announced its Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, and sunk $500 million into the effort.
But as the National Science Board publication shows, vast government efforts in Asia are working along similar lines. It offered abundant evidence that government efforts in Asia to attract and develop engineering outfits, and not just low-wage factories, have paid off. Since 2000:
Research and development expenditures in China and nine other Asian countries has risen to match that of the United States.
The number of doctoral degrees in engineering awarded in China has more than doubled since 2000, and now far exceeds the number awarded in the United States.
The number of research workers for U.S.-based multinationals working overseas has more than doubled.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
But Obama wants college degrees for all courtesy of US Taxpayer Subsidized Loans?
Don’t worry folks, because we got a cruise-boat-load of shovel-ready green jobs for you.
Exactly. Obozo wants free college for everyone so they can be indoctrinated, but learn nothing. They come out of college programming as dumbed-down Marxist/socialist zombies ready for their Dear Leader’s orders. This like North Korea, but without the warmth or class.
What? And here I thought the “community organizing” and “peace” studies would make us competitive..
Crazy as it may seem, I just read the other day about a company (Element Electronics?) that intends to manufacture hi def televisions in Detroit at a price they say will be competitive with Asia.
I’m not sure how they intend to do it but they say they’ll staff the plant with 100 people. I believe its a Minnesota company.
The college scam is a conduit for channeling big $$ to the liberal education establishment. Also the indebted serfs (aka students/grads) become lifetime obligated to the govt who loans them our taxpayer $$.
The report comes as the Obama administration is seeking to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive through engineering and innovation.
And blew 500 million too?
People people people...the vast majority of innovation stems from solving manufacturing problems or adapting manufacturing to a product. When you don’t manufacture, there’s no need to be innovative. On a large scale, there is no pressure to dream up ideas if there is no immediate reward.
The better mousetrap is going to come from where the mousetraps are manufactured.
But note that 20 years ago we were assured that the low level facotry jobs would be leaving and we would keep the engineering jobs. Now it is the engineering jobs which are leaving, but the low level factory jobs coming back.
"... would I lie to You?"
"Those jobs haven't been leaving this country fast enough, and until they're gone for good, there's no way this economy can recover!'"
“Im not sure how they intend to do it but they say theyll staff the plant with 100 people. I believe its a Minnesota company.”
I don’t think it could be done competitively with 100 slaves; in any event, I think that the capital required to stand up a plant of that type is in the range of 0.5 billion dollars or so.
MAYBE, they intend to assemble them from knocked-down kits or something like that.
The only kind of engineering coming from the government recently is social engineering, and that isn’t working, either.
My amateur research has show U.S. Manufacturing is Better than I feared, but Worse than I'd Like.
One of the best ways to bring those jobs back here is to rid ourselves of the Redundant Department of Redundancy, and 37663 Tax Laws that make life hell for U.S. Companies.
They’re going to specialize in 46 inch and larger screens. They’re starting with parts made in China but intend to build an supply network here in the states. They do mention rising costs to manufacture and transport from China.
Its important to note that Michigan will likely go right to work if Indiana does so we’re pushing on Indiana hard.
Im not sure how they intend to do it but they say theyll staff the plant with 100 people. I believe its a Minnesota company.
Well, keep in mind that they *are* locating their plant in a third world country.
Michigan is just so closely tied to the automotive industry that we have been taking a beating for years. I’ve only had one job that wasn’t involved in automotive and that was farm work as a kid. When I worked in printing, automotive technical manuals were pretty much our bread and butter jobs.
Another good thing is that we have union members starting to speak out in favor of right to work legislation.
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/16292
Not surprised at all. The US has lots of real estate, an educated population, low operating costs, etc. You name it.
The problem as always has been the unions that priced labor out of competition rage.
It also has massive infrastructure advantages, and is closer to the demand, etc.
As for the engineering jobs, I wouldn’t worry about those either. What is China going do when they have a 300 million shortfall in workers? Watch labor costs skyrocket.
and blah blah blah- we’ve been here before. If Asia produce one true innovation it will be a shocker.
http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1979/jul-aug/heuer.html
Document created: 9 September 02
Air University Review, July-August 1979
Soviet Professional Scientific and
Engineering Manpower
Jill E. Heuer
The scientific potential of a nation, its ability to solve future scientific and technological (S&T) development problems, is an important measure of its industrial and military strength. This scientific potential depends largely on the degree to which a nation has developed four aspects of its scientific and technical community.
A nation must have enough research and development (R&D) institutions and the specialized equipment required for the performance of research.
The research establishment must be manned by adequate numbers of qualified professional R&D scientists and engineers in the critical areas of research endeavor.
The research and development programs of the nation and the efforts of individual R&D personnel must be organized and managed in the most effective and efficient manner and focused on the most important problems.
The scientists and engineers must be kept informed of the S&T achievements of the rest of the world through a highly developed scientific and technological information system.
Underlying these parameters are those original ideas, the amount of scientific creativity possessed by scientists and engineers, which ultimately determine the extent to which a nation’s scientific potential is realized.
Concern has been expressed repeatedly that the Soviet Union is exceeding the United States in scientific and engineering manpower and, hence, may eventually surpass us in R&D achievements. There is no difficulty in finding statistics that support such concerns. The number of full-time-equivalent scientists and engineers employed in R&D in the Soviet Union surpassed the analogous figure for the U.S. in 1969-70 and stood well above the U.S. total in 1976 (755,000 versus 566,000) The number of kandidat nauk degrees (roughly equivalent to the U.S. Ph.D.) conferred in the Soviet Union reached a record level in 1976, while awards of Ph.D. degrees in the U.S., though exceeding the Soviet figure (about 33,000 versus 31,000), were on the decline from a peak in 1973. In the field of engineering, the comparisons are striking. In 1972 the Soviet Union employed 2,820,000 diploma engineers, while the U.S. employed only 1,243,000. This gap will probably widen, given relative numbers of first-level degrees being awarded in this field (275,500 in the U.S.S.R. versus 39,100 in the U.S. in .1976).
The very large screens can be built to include LEDs and display components from Texas Instruments.
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