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posted by janrinok on Sunday January 01 2017, @09:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the place-your-bets-now dept.

... 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.


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  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday January 02 2017, @08:56AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Monday January 02 2017, @08:56AM (#448446) Journal

    > What I didn't mean was industrial food processing.

    I assumed you didn't. Yet, in industrialised countries, industrially cooked foods are commonplace. Also common are foods that have been processed in a way that minimises the skill needed to prepare them. Those are even served at many restaurants. And since you've invited me to be literal, I'll mention that the literal process of cooking--raising the temperature of food in a controlled fashion--is among the tasks that are commonly automated, both in homes and in restaurants.

    Creating an artistic dish is another matter--but one chef can, conceivably, design something to be mass-produced.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @04:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @04:37AM (#448780)

    > I assumed you didn't. Yet,

    Yet you wasted two whole posts arguing as if I had.

    What is wrong with you?

    • (Score: 1) by butthurt on Tuesday January 03 2017, @07:24AM

      by butthurt (6141) on Tuesday January 03 2017, @07:24AM (#448810) Journal

      Not at all. I assumed the poster I was replying to hadn't considered the facts I mentioned. I mentioned them so they could be considered--if not by that poster, by other readers.