Manufacturing output has grown the past many years in the USA - higher productivity technology with fewer workers. It's untrue that manufacturing as an industry is in decline, it's just that the low end has while higher end has risen as have the required skills
Some people say that that was an artifact of quality adjustments on computer hardware, and that without the adjustments (or computer hardware) we're actually in a decline. [0] The chart of "Manufacturing" vs "Manufacturing, less computers [1] was pretty striking.
If you sold 1GB of RAM for $10 two years ago, and you sold 2GB of RAM for $10 this year, that's the normal state of the computer market. I don't think it's really equivalent to selling twice as many tons of steel or wheat for half the price.
0: https://qz.com/1269172/the-epic-mistake-about-manufacturing-... 1: https://www.theatlas.com/charts/BJh4B5_TG
The GDP share of manufacturing will decline. (I should have been more precise)
You can also move the same products up the value chain. Boutique manufacturing, hand crafted goods, and organic foods are all efforts to do this.
A large portion of a goods value, especially for consumer goods, is perceived value.
> This moves economic resources in the US to less competitive industries.
Is this really true?
Does having industries like furniture-making really make it so we don't have Google?
The people who brought us Google we not the laid off workers nor community college blue collar kids who now don’t have decently earning blue collar jobs.
Re:Tariffs China imposes on every country
by cyberpunk0 on Friday July 20, 2018 @12:11PM
(#17576275)
The economy is an abstract system. A better economy != a better world or quality of life for it's citizens.
While it's not exact match with life quality, it's a good abstraction.
When people start to flood from rich countries to poor countries to improve their quality of life, abstraction has served it's purpose.
The difference between MRI machine and metal press is very concrete.
This is valid point but there is a catch.
Economic growth and progress happens when countries are developing and moving up in the value chain. Developed economies are constantly moving towards high-tech and less labor incentive work. China is still industrial economy. US has moved into postindustrial economy. US manufacturing will decline despite trade wars. Manufacturing work will decline even more than GDP share of manufacturing.
When low productivity work (milk, garment, furniture workers) moves to China it allows redirecting investments and resources to higher value added products.
If these low productivity workers would be zombie/robots, companies would just write them off and recycle them into trash and compost - or sell them to China. But they are citizens and they vote. In other words, we have a political problem.
Possible solutions:
* Use tariffs to protect workers in low productivity work. This moves economic resources in the US to less competitive industries. Over decades, US falls behind other developed countries because it wants to protect industries that developing countries have.
* Solve the actual political problem directly. US citizens not earning living wages with skills they have.