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... if you ask actual manufacturing executives, they're far more bullish on America's future than many of its political leaders. On Thursday, professional services firm Deloitte teamed up with the Council on Competitiveness to release its 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, showing that the United States is the second most competitive manufacturing economy after China. What's more, global manufacturing executives predict that by 2020, the United States will be the most competitive manufacturing economy in the world.
So why has the United States been shooting up the ranks? Long gone are the days when cheap labor was the most important input for manufacturers. Total manufacturing employment in China peaked during the 1990s and has been falling ever since. And as manufacturing continues to reduce the number of workers needed, the important ingredients to success in the sector are whether advanced technologies and materials are available, and whether or not intellectual property protections are strong. The United States beats out China on both of these scores.
This is not to say that anxiety over the decline of manufacturing employment is misguided. While it's good that manufacturing firms think that the United States is a great place to do business, their success in America will not have the same impact, in terms of providing a huge number of well-paying jobs, as they did a half-century ago.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Sunday January 01 2017, @01:40PM
Unfortunately for meatbags, the factories will be operated by robots.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 01 2017, @02:00PM
Assembled in the USA with parts made in China.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 01 2017, @02:16PM
> Assembled in the USA with parts made in China.
No. That was just a PR tactic. But it only mattered when it was cheaper to both manufacture and ship from china. Robots cost the same in every country. So actual manufacturing in the US becomes cheaper than manufacturing in China because there are no shipping costs.
China's got lots of good supply-line infrastructure - which makes it easier to spin up new manufacturing lines. That's the best thing they've got going for them right now. But given the cost savings of local manufacturing the US will naturally rebuild its supply-lines in the same way that China naturally built its supply lines when over-seas manufacturing was a cost savers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @10:55AM
OK so designed in China and manufactured in USA?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 01 2017, @03:09PM
So they just need to pay the robots a salary so there can be robot consumers...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tisI on Sunday January 01 2017, @07:47PM
Yes, and for the few with jobs that robots can't do, will be of THE LOWEST wages possible.
If they want to save america, they need to build and upgrade infrastructure. Things robots can't do.
Things that don't make billionaires and kings richer.
"Suppose you were an idiot...and suppose you were a member of Congress...but I repeat myself."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 01 2017, @10:04PM
If they want to save america, they need to build and upgrade infrastructure. Things robots can't do.
Things that don't make billionaires and kings richer.
Oh ye of little faith.
Trump has a plan to upgrade infrastructure by privatizing it [politico.com] so that it will make billionaires and kings richer in perpetuity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 02 2017, @01:02AM
Well, the original alt-right (instead of whatever the lamestream media invented) did think democracy was a failed experiment. Perhaps they've proven that conjecture by providing an example. (Never mind that's not actually proof.)