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We manufacture more today than at any time in history. We just do it with a whole lot fewer people. Have jobs been lost to outsourcing? Sure. But far more jobs
by Aloisius 2y ago
We manufacture more today than at any time in history. We just do it with a whole lot fewer people.
Have jobs been lost to outsourcing? Sure. But far more jobs have been lost to automation and the elimination of obsolete industries. While companies might have avoided investing in automation through the use of cheap labor in other countries, there is little doubt that will change if they re-shore.
- slicktux 2y agoSo tariffs shouldn’t be a problem since we “manufacture more than we did ever before”! we’ll be able to buy USA made and avoid high cost of imports; great!
- amluto 2y agoCounterpoint: as far as I know, 30 years ago, a small US company could invent a consumer good and credibly manufacture it here in small to moderate quantities. Today, not so much. If you want an economical contract manufacturer to help you manufacture your product using modern tooling and access to the engineers who know how to set up those tools, as far as I know, you mostly need to look outside the US.
- Spooky23 2y agoNo way. You need to go back to the 1960s, and that’s a stretch. The age of the mega corp killed all of that stuff. NYC had a few thousand factories, all crushed by bigger, subsidized by tax policy competitors in the US south and then offshored.
- aj7 2y agoYes, absolutely. Our skill is in design, management, and marketing, and distribution. Making stuff is today’s farming.
- aj7 2y agoCorrect.