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> America's manufacturing capacity has been largely destroyed Where do people get this myth from? It's just flat out untruthful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wik

> America's manufacturing capacity has been largely destroyed Where do people get this myth from? It's just flat out untruthful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_in_the_United_St... > The United States is the world's third largest manufacturer (after China and the EU) with a record high real output in Q1 2018 of $2.00 trillion (i.e., adjusted for inflation in 2009 Dollars) well above the 2007 peak before the Great Recession of $1.95 trillion. US manufacturing capacity keeps going up and up and up. Maybe you're thinking of employment in manufacturing? Yes that's going down. It's also reducing as a proportion of GDP, but that's not 'capacity', and it's because other sectors have grown even faster.

systemvoltage 5y ago
This goes against the basic experience of most people that went through the 80’s and remember how basically everything in their living room was made in the US including the TV from Western Electric Co. While statistically, it may be true, literally 99% items in my house are made in China. Paint on the walls is probably still made in US. Small business and manufacturing industry statistics would be interesting to evaluate here without the rhetoric “Where do people get this myth from?” - daily experience of millions of people does not align with reality of 30 years ago. That’s why.
falcolas 5y ago
But isn't most of the fiscally significant US manufacturing limited to the final assembly of inexpensive components imported from Asia?
- jsmith99 5y ago
  Exactly. That's the high value part of the chain: assembling commodity raw materials into specialist goods that poorer countries cannot match.
  - username90 5y ago
    No, the high value part of the chain is putting your brand label on the final box. There isn't much USA is manufacturing that Asian manufacturers cannot do today except the branding.
    - falcolas 5y ago
      Yeah, this. It lets them qualify to claim "Made in the USA", except it wasn't, not really. It was made in (China/India/Japan/Malasya/Mexico/Canada/…) and partially assembled in the US.
deleted 5y ago
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systemvoltage 5y ago

This goes against the basic experience of most people that went through the 80’s and remember how basically everything in their living room was made in the US including the TV from Western Electric Co. While statistically, it may be true, literally 99% items in my house are made in China. Paint on the walls is probably still made in US. Small business and manufacturing industry statistics would be interesting to evaluate here without the rhetoric “Where do people get this myth from?” - daily experience of millions of people does not align with reality of 30 years ago. That’s why.

falcolas 5y ago

But isn't most of the fiscally significant US manufacturing limited to the final assembly of inexpensive components imported from Asia?

jsmith99 5y ago
Exactly. That's the high value part of the chain: assembling commodity raw materials into specialist goods that poorer countries cannot match.
- username90 5y ago
  No, the high value part of the chain is putting your brand label on the final box. There isn't much USA is manufacturing that Asian manufacturers cannot do today except the branding.
  - falcolas 5y ago
    Yeah, this. It lets them qualify to claim "Made in the USA", except it wasn't, not really. It was made in (China/India/Japan/Malasya/Mexico/Canada/…) and partially assembled in the US.

deleted 5y ago

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