Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
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Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#2Last week's NYT article on free trade was pretty good: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/business/economy/more-weal...
This is the bottom line on American manufacturing:
> From 2000 to 2010, the United States lost some 5.6 million manufacturing jobs, by the government’s calculation. Only 13 percent of those job losses can be explained by trade, according to an analysis by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana. The rest were casualties of automation or the result of tweaks to factory operations that enabled more production with less labor.
> American factories produced more goods last year than ever, by many indications. Yet they did so while employing about 12.3 million workers — roughly the same number as in 2009, when production was roughly three-fourths what it is today.
Most of the jobs that left are never coming back. They didn't go to Mexico or China; they simply disappeared because automation and productivity increases rendered them unnecessary.
If the US sheltered its manufacturing sector from foreign competition, a small number of jobs might come back, but the increased cost of manufacturing things in the US would strongly incentivize companies to automate those jobs away as quickly as possible.
Manufacturing has a powerful political resonance, both in terms of the imagery of hardworking middle-class factory workers and national pride, e.g. "Why don't we make things in this country anymore?" However, I suspect that most politicians who talk about a manufacturing revival understand that it won't really happen.
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#3I figured they were just suckers for factory tours, or at least photos ops with the "working man".
Also, a lot of the Left longs for the days of big factories and big union collective bargaining that could raise the wages a lot of people quickly. It's a great thing to point to with good economies of scale. Globalization has made this a mostly untenable strategy, but the longing remains.
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#4Manufacturing is a target because it's easy for people to see concrete results. They can point at something and say, "we made that", and it tends to generate some sense of pride. The same doesn't really apply for service industries or innovation in the service industries: "we produced consumer surplus by lowering transportation costs via automation" doesn't roll off the tongue as well. :)
The same problem exists for creating software. Massive software projects tend to be unimpressive to people not familiar with the IT industry because they don't comprehend the scale or fundamental difficulties in computer science that were overcome to accomplish something.
Compare airplanes and wifi on airplanes. Most people are impressed by an A380, but they couldn't give two shits about the incredible technology behind offering wifi 5 miles above the Atlantic ocean at 700MPH ground speed. They just trivialize it by saying, "yeah, it comes from that little radio".
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#5Maybe because they're catering to a vote bank that was most affected by manufacturing / factory jobs that went overseas? And there's little else those voters could relate to other than someone bringing back the jobs that they know well. There's also the righting the wrong thing that's appealing to many.
As TFA points out there is little chance of revival of American manufacturing. TFA makes a very good point that most of those who lost their factory jobs have moved to service industry and that's what the candidates should focus on making better.
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#6[deleted]
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#7> Manufacturing was, logistically speaking, easier to organize. There were lots of workers at each factory, and most knew one another. Service work is more dispersed and done in smaller crews. Workers living in the same city and employed by the same retail chain, for example, would likely know only a handful of their compatriots. Fostering a sense of trust and shared purpose under these conditions is difficult.
Plus you can't just fire everyone and shut down the factory when they start talking union.
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#8This is a great article.
The rage of the blue-collar masses is misplaced. It belongs with engineers, STEM people, operations research, Taylorist management. Globalism isn't the architect of their fate. We are.
Want enough work to go around? Ban the last 100 years of agricultural development. That'll create all the jobs you could possibly want, real fast.
Except then you'all find out that more work to go around is a wrong thing to want.
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#9Last week's NYT article on free trade was pretty good: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/business/economy/more-weal... This is the bottom line on American manufacturing: > From 2000 to 2010, the United States lost some 5.6 million manufacturing jobs, by the government’s calculation. Only 13 percent of those job losses can be explained by trade, according to an analysis by the Center for Business and Economic Research…
But there aren't a finite number of factories. If more factory work gets automated, then it will reduce the cost of building more factories and producing even more goods.
Whereas service jobs seem more finite. There is only a finite demand for burgers or shelf stockers, unless you increase the population. I really don't understand how a mostly service based economy is sustainable.
In any case, the service based jobs are just as vulnerable to automation. There are already a number of prototype burger making robots, for instance.
Re: Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?
#10I wasn't aware of these facts:
--[T]here can be no revival of American manufacturing, because there has been no collapse. Because of automation, there are far fewer jobs in factories. But the value of stuff made in America reached a record high in the first quarter of 2016, even after adjusting for inflation.
--[T]here were 64,000 steelworkers in America last year, and 820,000 home health aides.... Soon, we will be living in the United States of Home Health Aides, yet the candidates keep talking about steelworkers.
Given the opportunity, I think I'd vote for McKinsey, Bain, or BCG to manage the executive branch instead of our current Presidential candidates.