Posted on 05/14/2016 4:25:36 AM PDT by expat_panama
If there is one thing that Democrats and Republicans always seem to agree on, it’s this: Manufacturing jobs are the key to economic success in this country. We’ve got to “revitalize” the manufacturing sector if the economy is to generate strong job growth and economic expansion.
That’s just such total hogwash, because it’s not true and it’s not reflective of reality.
To begin with, it’s always been difficult to understand why “manufacturing jobs” are so sacrosanct in many peoples’ minds. What is it about sitting in front of an assembly line for hours on end, repeating the same task of putting gizmo A into whatchamacallit B 240 times per day that defines “economic prosperity” to some people? We don’t hold retail jobs or service-sector jobs up as similar yardsticks...
...manufacturing is a great stereotypical image, a great cliché...
...if only we could get back to that America -- the factory job...
...they’ve found other jobs in new areas that didn’t exist before.
But according to some economic troglodytes, we’re only in the economic sweet spot if we’re manufacturing cheap Bic pens and Keds. Actually, the value of our manufacturing sector’s output is at record levels, even if the absolute number of workers employed in manufacturing is less than the peak. It’s directly analogous to our agricultural output being the highest ever, even though none of you farm.
There is lots of proof of this. Here’s just one example.
Next time you hear an ill-informed politician talk about how we need to “bring our manufacturing jobs back,” you’ll know better. We manufacture exactly what we should in this country. There’s always a plus/minus to how much we make here depending on the specific conditions of the moment, but you should hope you never see a U.S.-made Bic pen again.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
There are only 4 wealth CREATORS.
1. Mining (including oil extraction)
2. Manufacturing
3. Agriculture
4. Applied research & intellectual products
Every other activity consumes wealth.
Lawyers, accountants, doctors do not exist
in countries with no wealth.
Out of those 4 primary wealth creators,
manufacturing is the largest component.
That is why China is soon to be world’s largest economy.
Because They are are not known to be big in other 3 areas.
“There are only 4 wealth CREATORS.
1. Mining (including oil extraction)
2. Manufacturing
3. Agriculture
4. Applied research & intellectual products”
100% correct!
And of the 4, one supports and expands the middle class far more than the others.
A service based economy doesn’t create wealth, it just recycles what is already there.
Damn..... I couldn’t have said it better
The money phrase is “economic troglodytes”. Thats a lot of syllables so e trog is a satisfactory reduction
There is a rejoinder for those that frivolously and I might add ignorantly, cast about their self manufactured phrase Free Traitors.
Such folk are hereby designated e trogs.
I would say that any activity that adds value to an existing object generates wealth. If you take a tree, cut it down, debark it, saw it into timber, and kiln-dry it, it is worth more than it was as a tree. Or at least it’s more utile.
Similarly, if you take a shipment of sheet metal and stamp it into fenders that you then paint and buff, it is worth more than it was as sheet steel.
That is Karl Marx’s Labor Theory of Capital. Which he despised, by the way.
Mankind has had doctors & priests for thousands of years.
It’s a horrible article. Not very thoughtful. A service based economy is very vulnerable both as a nation and economically.
You have to put the middle class somewhere or you’ll have none. Just like in a service economy.
I think that’s what historically is known as slavery, albeit a modern day version.
You are correct. Everything else that happens as “business”: service jobs, food industry, sales and so many others only swap existing wealth around.
We DO have a government that manufactures money to inflate stocks and to release in trickles to the economy through spending and food stamps. That will only go so far, tho.
The commenters at the article make more sense than the author.
I’ll add one more thought. To the question, “What is it about sitting in front of an assembly line for hours on end, repeating the same task of putting gizmo A into whatchamacallit B 240 times per day that defines “economic prosperity” to some people?,” I would say this:
a nation is filled with a full range of people, who both have skills and lack skill, have intellect and lack intellect, have initiative and lack initiative, etc. There is nothing snooty about admitting that for some people, putting gizmo A into whatchamacallit B 240 times per day is the appropriate level of intellectual challenge. And guess what? When they are doing that, they are productive members of society. When they are not doing that, they are unemployed on a street corner subject to the undercurrents of a decaying society.
We need all kinds of employment opportunities in this country, including those that are not particularly stimulating from an intellectual perspective.
Apparently Steve Feinstein, like most pundits, writers and politicians has not been in a manufacturing plant recently. or never. There are damn few manufacturing jobs still around that require someone “putting gizmo A into whatchamacallit B 240 times per day”.
There is still a craphouse load of manufacturing jobs being done here. The biggest problem is they are not owned by American companies and much of the low skilled labor is being performed by illegals. And in many cases the high skilled jobs are being done by H1B immigrants displacing American labor.
Yes and they worked for barter. And they were not MD’s (Mercedes Drivers).
Yes, any activity such as you mention of cutting down a tree and processing it into more useful items does create a minuscule amount of health. You can say it is a form of manufacturing.
However in the overall scheme of things, the real giant wealth creators are manufacturing in factories and mining for chemicals, oil & metals. Perhaps 85-90% of wealth creation.
Besides regulations that drove manufacturing out of the country, one other common trait of the careers mentioned above is the use of unions to provide artificial wage levels after the working conditions stuff was cleaned up and unions kind of lost their value to society.
There are Marxists and useful idiots that do Marx's bidding. Free Traitors™ unknowongly fall into the latter category.
Where was the tree grown?
The presence of Donald Trump in this race is bringing all the snobs and globalists out of the woodwork, revealing how worthless and destructive their 'contribution' to this society is. I repeat your excellent question, Bowden1 'Who is this clown?' and agree also that he cannot possibly have ever worked for a living.
Priceless.
I wouldn't argue your points above about wealth creation, but somebody has to draw up the contracts for selling the products that are mined, manufactured, or grown. Someone has to account for how much was mined, manufactured, or grown. These roles don't directly create wealth, but they play a vital role in creating wealth.
Some histories I've read indicate that the Egyptians were able to rise as a civilization because they could record who owned how much grain from the rich harvests of the Nile.
And without doctors, the miners, manufacturers, and farmers would die or at least be much less productive.
You are totally missing the point.
Most modern manufacturing plants do not have people sitting there like monkeys doing repetitive work. It’s all done by automation equipment. The workers are either operators, mechanics, engineers, office personel etc.
This article is complete BS.
We need those jobs, tax revenue, and real estate occupation.
China has become a superpower practically overnight on manufacturing alone!
Let’s say it grew naturally. Randomly. In a forest.
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