Manufacturing Productivity

This post by Mark Perry is an important one; It needs to be repeated over and over again so that the myth that claims manufacturing in the U.S. has been waning or destroyed completely is finally debunked:

Workers today produce twice as much manufacturing output as their counterparts did in the early 1990s, and three times as much as in the early 1980s, thanks to innovation and advances in technology that have made today’s workers the most productive in history.

And that's American workers. Manufacturing employment is down but manufacturing productivity is at all time highs, folks. Let's keep it real.

A city in Ohio tires of failure.

After years of trying and failing, the city leaders of Youngstown in the state of Ohio have decided that instead of trying to attract new businesses into their city, they will simply raze dilapidated buildings and tear up blighted streets. They will turn eyesores into open green spaces. At first, I thought this was a good idea. But then I realized that the city will be spending public funds on what is called “project 2010.” The article doesn’t say how much exactly but hiring heavy equipment and the workers that man them can’t be cheap. Couldn’t those funds go towards something else? I understand that living near eyesores can be demoralizing but it doesn’t sound like the city of Youngstown is overflowing with the sort of tax revenue that would allow them to take such drastic measures.

And then I started to think about the Democratic primary in the state of Ohio and how all of Ohio’s economic issues were cast with the greater national debate regarding the economy, NAFTA, and union jobs. The state has indeed seen tough times. But it is largely due to its own doing. Industries have been leaving Ohio and none have come to take their place because the state is simply not business friendly and it also taxes its citizens quite a bit too: The state of Ohio has the third highest corporate income tax in the country (10.5%) and the sixth highest personal income tax (8.87%). Why move your business to Ohio when the state of Texas, for example, has far lower corporate taxes and no state income tax? Is it any wonder that the state of Texas is booming while Ohio has been in an economic rut for years?

It seems to me that there will be more defeated little cities like Youngstown in the state of Ohio until politicians there wake up and smell economic reality.

There are plenty of manufacturing jobs.

From ABC NEWS

While millions of jobs making everything from textiles to steel have moved to new power houses like China in recent years, precision manufacturing remains a crucial niche in the United States, one that is overworked and chronically understaffed.

And in a bad sign for the United States and its declining economic might, that shortage of skilled workers is likely to get worse as Baby Boomers retire, with no younger generation of manufacturing workers to take the baton.

Comment: With all the talk this election season about manufacturing jobs going abroad, the reality is that there is a shortage of highly skilled “blue collar” workers in many industries. And the shortage will be exacerbated as older “blue collar” workers start to retire. Our national obsession to send every kid to college has thinned the ranks of skilled manual labor to the detriment of American manufacturing. Bottom line: There are plenty of jobs in the manufacturing industry for skilled workers and the pay is very good.