Delusion regarding manufacturing jobs: They are not coming back

The manufacturing jobs delusion – Manufacturing jobs: Not coming back

The Economist logo Jan 4th 2017 – The Economist

Donald Trump may or may not have persuaded Ford to keep a plant in Michigan. But history suggests that his aim of creating large numbers of manufacturing jobs will be a lost cause. The problem is not just China but technology. A competitive market means that carmakers must keep investing to add new features while keeping prices down; that may mean replacing people with machines, writes our financial markets columnist
By guyaneseonline, on 01/05/2017 at 12:15 am, under Business, Commentary, Economics/Finance, USA Politics and Economy. Tags: , . 2 Comments
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  • Clyde Duncan  On 01/05/2017 at 4:42 pm
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    I am NOT going to even begin to irritate you with the preamble and text to this one, but I am very sure you get who this is addressed to, by the close alone:

    Donnie boy, welcome to the aforementioned Civics 101 class. Time to get your tiny, Tweet obsessed brain around it, on January 20th you will no longer be a low class, debt swamped mogul, you will be the President of the United States.

    And other than maybe Melania; your children and some that are married to your DNA, nobody is your friend. You’re going to have to learn to make deals that were never even touched on at Wharton, and you can’t make the problems go away by name-calling, Tweeting-temper-tantrums.

    I played hockey for more than 20 years, I started when I was 4, and I was pretty good at it. But I never even made it to the minors much less the NHL.

    There’s a reason why we don’t get ignorant, bellicose stuffed shirts like you in the White House very often. Politics is a craft. You start it when you’re in diapers, obsess over it single mindedly, pursue the dream and just pray you’re good enough to make it all the way to the top.

    To put it bluntly, you’re in wayyyy over your head little man and the clock will soon be ticking. And only the whole goddamn world will be watching. Let’s see how long that hair stays day-glo orange pal.

  • Gigi  On 01/07/2017 at 12:26 pm
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    Even if those jobs were to return, the cost of production would (1) make the product too expensive for the majority of Americans to afford, and (2) make the product too expensive to export given the high valuation of the US dollar. And while Americans consume more than they produce or can afford, the financial state of the American economy and it’s inability to pay its debt puts it at a risk for foreign creditors. It is why China is expanding it reach into other markets to reduce its risk exposure to the American economy.

    Real American made products, i.e. products made by paying real wages, are too expansive to export to most countries that do not have that kind of purchasing power. The recent protest over increasing the minimum wage for fast food workers has resulted companies turning to robots and computer kiosks to replace workers who used to have those jobs. Companies were forced to make this choice or lose customers. I rarely do fast food except for the occasional Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich with fresh squeezed lemonade. But given the choice of a single serving value meal increasing to $10+ versus a 2+ more serving of Singapore mei fun or biryani for lunch for the same price, I would immediately eliminate Chick-fil-A from my list of food places/choices without regrets. Compounding this situation is that in reality, over 60% of Americans cannot afford to eat out.

    While having a college degree helps, the reality is that there are not enough jobs for even people with college degrees. All the jobs that the Obama administration has touted about creating were part-time, low paying jobs in the gig economy. But like most people who desperately want to believe anything because their survival/identity depends on it, they happily accept what they are told.

    Kudos to the Economist for pointing out that this state of affairs concerning jobs and the economy goes way back to the 70s.

    Elsewhere in the news, the 2016 PISA results are out. Asian Americans performed better than White Americans in Reading/English Language Arts (ELA)! I’m sure they be blaming ebonics. Do it be makin’ sense?

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