Netizen

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Manufacturing Was Never Going To Go Away

Global Warming (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cheap labor should be allowed to compete globally. That is only legitimate. But so should advanced manufacturing. The next industrial revolution will produce smarter goods in smarter ways with smarter energy. And goods are not going away. It is not like we have evolved to only consume food and broadband. And it is only a matter of time before China competes in advanced manufacturing as well. And that is good news. A robust China prevented the world going into a deep recession in 2008. China is successfully competing on bullet trains and clean tech, is it not? But if you believe in the expanding pie, it is a win win situation.

Cost is the reason reshoring is happening. Cost is the reason clean energy will happen. Bad air is a huge health expense, and health costs have to be factored in. Sandy - caused by global warming - cost tens of billions. That's a cost of global warming and has to be factored in.

Literally every good can be connected to the Internet. Every good can be made to be smart.

Transportation costs are also very real.

Just like a strong China is good for the world, a strong America is also good for the world. The global economy benefits the more giants it has.

And China is not going to stop manufacturing. Rising wages there is a sign domestic consumption in China is expanding.

Made in America, Again

“reshoring.” Although Chinese wages are a fraction of U.S. labor costs, rising shipping rates, quality problems, and the intangible costs of being far from headquarters all add up. That’s why some companies have begun to rethink the manufacturing equation....... Chinese wages are doubling every four years .... the vast majority of what Americans consume isn’t high-tech at all. We need to efficiently make ladders and hammers and paper and lights .... A refrigerator is made up of very little intellectual property and a lot of weight.