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The Economist: "Politicians cannot bring back old-fashioned factory jobs. They don’t make ’em like that any more"
It's over, boys-'n-girls. Time to move on.
Manufacturing in the US will specialize, and the more redundant work has moved and will continue to move both west (to the Far East) and ... uh, Mexico. Despite what Donald Dork says about his Effing Wall.
So, if you want to pay more for your car - hey, go for it! Buy American! But that aint gonna save jobs in America. Those that are gone, are gone and they aint comin' back. The car's fan-belt will continue to be Made in China! Amongst other things as well.
So, what's a poor soul to do?
Get crackin' on advancing your skills levels! If you have a high-school degree get a vocational one. Better yet, if you can, get a 2- or 4-year degree, they will get you in the door and in the seat for an interview. Go for it!
NB: Oh, yeah. Remember the offer from Hillary for a free education up to and including a Tertiary Level degree? For all Donald Dork's shyster blah-blah, there aint nothin in his program that's gonna match that offer. You've been had by the Electoral College ...
Ride the carousel
Once you understand what manufacturing now looks like, you come to see that the way it is represented in official statistics understates its health, and that the sector’s apparent decline in the rich world is overstated. But that does not solve the politicians’ problem. The innovations behind the sector’s resilience have changed the number, nature and location of the jobs that it offers. There are still a lot of them; but many of the good jobs for the less skilled are never to return.
Both in terms of employment and innovation manufacturing is worthy of political attention. Manufacturers are more likely to be exporters than businesses in other parts of the economy and, as you would expect given the demands of competing in a broader market, exporting firms tend to be more productive than non-exporting firms. Such firms also tend to be more capital-intensive, because selling into those broader markets allows firms to reduce capital costs per unit sold. And a sector that has higher-than-average productivity and high capital intensity will, other things being equal, be able to offer better wages.
The structure of 20th-century manufacturing helped ensure that those better wages were indeed offered. Factories brought lots of modestly skilled people together with massive capital equipment that cost owners dearly when idled by strikes. Unionisation helped those workers win a large share of the value generated by industry.
In the latter part of the century, though, this system came undone. Better shipping and information technology allowed firms to unbundle the different tasks—from design to assembly to sales—that made up the business of manufacturing. It became possible to co-ordinate longer and more complicated supply chains, and thus for various activities to be moved to other countries, or to other companies, or both. At the same time computers and computer-aided design made automation more capable. High wages gave owners the incentive they needed to take advantage of those opportunities. And while politicians now like the good jobs unionised factories provided, at the time when those unions were flexing their muscles many were happy to see them reined in.
It's over, boys-'n-girls. Time to move on.
Manufacturing in the US will specialize, and the more redundant work has moved and will continue to move both west (to the Far East) and ... uh, Mexico. Despite what Donald Dork says about his Effing Wall.
So, if you want to pay more for your car - hey, go for it! Buy American! But that aint gonna save jobs in America. Those that are gone, are gone and they aint comin' back. The car's fan-belt will continue to be Made in China! Amongst other things as well.
So, what's a poor soul to do?
Get crackin' on advancing your skills levels! If you have a high-school degree get a vocational one. Better yet, if you can, get a 2- or 4-year degree, they will get you in the door and in the seat for an interview. Go for it!
NB: Oh, yeah. Remember the offer from Hillary for a free education up to and including a Tertiary Level degree? For all Donald Dork's shyster blah-blah, there aint nothin in his program that's gonna match that offer. You've been had by the Electoral College ...