[.cnI redruM]

Another myth exposed. Gephardt should read it and weep. We produce a higher percentage of our GDP through physical manufacturing than we did when we had mobilized to fight the Nazi's in WWII!

[ChromeDome]

ping

[tkathy]

There is a lot more to outsourcing than cutsey little statistics. This is a serious problem, and the party that puts out phoney spin is going to lose big time.

[jim_trent]

> Remember, what really matters for employers is not absolute wages, but unit
> labor costs — how much the labor costs to manufacture a given product.

Reminds me of the old Fruehauf Corporation ( an over-the-road trailer manufacturer). They decided to close down the Fort Wayne manufacturing plant and open one in Scott County Tennessee. The wages were $11 to $14 in Ft. Wayne and were $6 to $8 in Tennessee (this is in mid-1970's dollars). They figured that they would save $1,000 per trailer.

Unfortunately, they were never able to match the hours needed to produce the trailer -- even with brand new equipment and a year and a half of ramping up the speed (to get the workers ready). The Tennessee plant took more of those lower cost hours to make each and every trailer. The cost savings was not there. Makes me wonder about sending work to Mexico or India.

Fruehauf is now out of business and the last I heard, the Tennessee plant was closed down. So much for low wage rates.

[kms61]

"The truth is that manufacturing is doing just fine in every way except employment."

Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?

The free trader pundits clearly are feeling the heat and have their talking points. What they fail to comprehend is that none of their statistics mean a damn thing to a man whose job has been outsourced.

If the Republicans don't get a handle on this, come November 2004 they'll be trying to get the license plate number of the truck that hit them.

[Uncle Miltie]

"The truth is that manufacturing is doing just fine in every way except employment. However, few economists would judge the health or sickness of any industry solely based on employment. By that standard, agriculture has been the sickest industry of all for decades. Rather, such things as output, productivity, profitability and wages better determine industrial health. On this score, manufacturing is actually doing quite well in the United States."

Exploding Heads Alert!

[BlackbirdSST]

Spin it any way you want it. Blackbird.

[ChromeDome]

Remember, what really matters for employers is not absolute wages, but unit labor costs — how much the labor costs to manufacture a given product. If a U.S. worker is 5 times as productive as a Mexican worker making one-fifth as much, they are exactly equal from the point of view of a producer.

Great, so you only have to work 5 times harder than everyone else to have a chance. Sounds fair to me </sarcasm>

[mhking]

Notice that they've completely ignored the effect of outsourcing on the high tech sector...

"It's OK, you can ignore it now..."

[maui_hawaii]

However, few economists would judge the health or sickness of any industry solely based on employment.

Its the 1000 pound gorilla though.

Fortunately those out of work can vote, and those companies and corporations can't.

[Walkin Man]

The truth is that manufacturing is doing just fine in every way except employment.

I'm sure that will make the millions of unemployed sleep better at night under the overpass in their cardboard boxes!

[eniapmot]

I doubt this article will make Gebhardt weep: he is probably saying "Is that the best they can do...?". Hillary is reading this and watching from the reeds, licking her lips.

[nightdriver]

Bruce Bartlett just hasn't been replaced in his job by a foreigner with a bright, shiny new H-1B visa yet.

[lelio]

In the first quarter of 2003 ? the latest data available ? real goods production was 39.2 percent of real GDP.

How does GDP count for parts of the whole manufactured in foreign countries?
If 10% of the parts in 1950 were made in foreign countries how do you compare that to a car made of 80% foreign parts today?
I think this gets accounted for in the trade deficit numbers. Those numbers are oddly absent from this cheerleading article.

[lewislynn]

The war machine was built partially by inexperienced women who had to be trained "Rosie The Riveter" (my grandmother was a welder for Douglas Aircraft).

...so people like janitors and accountants were classified as "manufacturing" workers simply because they worked for manufacturing companies....

Non-productive workers were included in your skewed numbers, Not to mention the government dictated what they'd pay for the material and equipment contributing to the skewed GDP numbers.

Taking that into consideration I'd say their productivity was better....

I'd like to see an American ship builder (are there any left?) match the production of Liberty ships today like Kaiser did then.

[ex-snook]

Just who recovers is a 'jobless recovery'?

OPEN ASSIGNMENT
MISSION TO SAVE AMERICAN JOBS
August 18, 2003

President Bush:

Mr. President your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to recover the 3+ million jobs lost on your watch. You are to find where they went, recover them, and prevent this from happening again.

You have until November 2004 to complete this mission.

If you choose not to accept this mission, or are incapable of performing, don't run in the GOP Primary so another Republican can accept this important mission for America.

American Citizen Voter

PS Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to understand. Ross Perot sent a warning to your Dad but since then all we hear is the mantra, 'Perot gave us Clinton'. Actually your Dad gave us Perot.

[Brian Allen]

<< But they are being joined by some on the far right as well, such as Pat Buchanan ..... >>

Trade Luddite and tariff-tax [And price] pushing totalitarian socialist, Pat Buchanan, is about as far right as were some other totalitarian socialists by-any-other name, including Messrs Mussolini, Hitler, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Tze Tung.

[Brian Allen]

Why Murder Inc?

Gotta death wish?

[stainlessbanner]

bttt

[johnb838]

While I think the sunshine may be a bit overblown here, I have thought for sometime that a mexican auto part produced with cheap labor is worth nothing if it's too shoddy to be used in a car. Likewise if the indians build a computer system and nobody can understand it or use it, then that savings turns into a loss.

[bert]

On steam engines there were governors to prevent them from speeding up out of control.

So it is with outsourcing.

It keeps wages reasonable and makes workers stick around.