Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Reality of Manufacturing

I criticize the AP a lot, but this time they get it right.

Manufacturing in the United States isn't dead or dying. It's moving upscale, following the biggest profits and becoming more efficient, just as Henry Ford did when he created the assembly line to make the Model T.

The U.S. by far remains the world's leading manufacturer by value of goods produced. It hit a record $1.6 trillion in 2007, nearly double the $811 billion in 1987. For every $1 of value produced in China's factories, America generates $2.50.

As I have said before, there is no future in the US for manufacturing cheap goods, it is in high-tech, higher margin items.  Sorry, if you want to spend the rest of your life making cheap sneakers, you will have to move to China.

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