China Is Officially Dusting The U.S. In Manufacturing (And That's OK)

The Atlantic ^ | 12-13-2012 | Jordan Weissmann

[blam]

China Is Officially Dusting The U.S. In Manufacturing (And That's OK)

By Jordan Weissmann
Dec 13 2012, 12:20 PM

In 2010, China just barely edged out the United States as the world's top manufacturer by output -- a distinction it hadn't held since 1850. Still the two countries were basically neck and neck.

No longer. The United Nations has updated its national accounts data to capture 2011, and thanks to China's breakneck growth, its manufacturing output is now leaving ours in a cloud of coal dust, as shown in this graph from AEI's Mark Perry. China's trend line is practically an asymptote.

The chart tracks the combined category of manufacturing, mining, and utilities because the U.N. didn't track manufacturing alone for China until 2004. That said, they're beating us on the solo category too, $2.3 trillion of output versus $1.9.

As a point of pride, this might all be a bit of a blow for the United States. As an economic issue, though, it's not really so terrible.Yes, we envy China's factory and export engine, but we still build plenty here. In fact, we're building more than ever, and much of our output consists of extraordinarily profitable, technologically advanced products like aircraft that China has yet to master. And, though it's sometimes easy to forget with all the talk of China rising, we're also, well, richer. America's household consumption alone generated $10.7 trillion of economic activity in 2011 -- $3.5 trillion more than China's entire gross domestic product. This, despite the fact that our population is one quarter the size. We might not be the world's top builders anymore, but our economy's bias towards spending does insulate it a bit from the rest world's economic problems, something China's policy makers almost certainly envy themselves.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

BUNK.

We import more and more. We are losing our way.

Bring back US jobs now.

[blam]

Manufacturing In The US Is Making A Historic Comeback

[indthkr]

"but our economy's bias towards spending does insulate it a bit from the rest world's economic problems"

The problem is our bias is towards spending other peoples money, which which the others have earned by producing more things of intrinsic value than we do.

[Noamie]

We “manufacture” more than China and Russia combined.

We don’t, however, “assemble” more than China.

I think it’s an important distinction.

Apple is bringing back assembly of a few of their computer models because we already manufacture most of the parts here. They simply assemble them in China.

Assembly jobs are not what America wants. They are practically below-minimum wage jobs because an 8 year old can do it.

Manufacturing jobs, however - turning a chunk of steel into an engine block - we need that.

There is a difference between a cog and a craftsman.

---

We do, however, need to step up our job training for CNC machine techs, etc.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If you can pollute all you please and pay your people pennies, what do you expect.

[Sherman Logan]

In 2010, China just barely edged out the United States as the world's top manufacturer by output -- a distinction it hadn't held since 1850.

Very skeptical China was world's largest manufacturer in 1850.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Double the price of our oil, for the children!

[elpadre]

Question: Is the State Department still sending AID money to China?? or any other kind of dollars for development of industry, et al??

[elpadre]

Question: Is the State Department still sending AID money to China?? or any other kind of dollars for development of industry, et al??

[DoughtyOne]

Just four years after he tried to sell Appliance Park, believing it to be a relic of an era GE had transcended, he’s spending some $800 million to bring the place back to life. “I don’t do that because I run a charity,” he said at a public event in September. I do that because I think we can do it here and make more money.

Yeah dumb ass. That's what some of us have been trying to tell you and others for twenty years. At least you finally listened.

There's a massive labor force out there, that has twenty years of production missing from their lives. How's it feel to know you contributed to that?

[Democrat_media]

That's in current U.S. dollars .If you factor in inflation then U.S. manufacturing is not growing at all while china's growth is still skyrocketing.