Misvaluing Manufacturing
A superb post here, from Photon Courier in 2003. Despite the age of the post, this is a subject that still seems as pertinent:
In the blogosphere and in the media, there have recently been many comments running basically as follows: "We're better off without all those manufacturing jobs, anyhow...let the boring assembly line jobs be done somewhere else, and let our people concentrate on high-value knowledge work."
I believe that comments like these reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of manufacturing.
It's true that in a typical manufacturing plant there are many jobs which are repetitive in nature and require fairly low skill levels. But there are also many other kinds of jobs--jobs requiring high levels of skill and education. When a manufacturing plant leaves, these jobs usually leave as well.
2 Comments:
Michael,
I would suggest also Patrick J. Buchanan's 'Death of Manufacturing' -
http://www.amconmag.com/08_11_03/cover.html
a milestone on my own intellectual path and as applicabale in Scotland and the Northwest as in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Thanks for that Martin, well worth a read. I especially liked the following paragraph:
As a former Friedmanite free trader, let me say it: free trade is a bright shining lie. Free trade is the Trojan Horse of world government. Free trade is the murderer of manufacturing and the primrose path to the loss of national sovereignty and the end of our independence.
In other words, the loss of everything that a true conservative would value.
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