Where Things Are Made

Updated 3 months, 1 week ago

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is a key speaker at tomorrow’s Building the New Economy conference here in Washington, D.C. United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard and economist Jeff Madrick also are among the keynote speakers.

To our nation’s peril, the free trade orthodoxy continues to ignore a fundamental economic fact: It matters where things are made. Over the past decade, the U.S. industrial base has suffered an unprecedented decline ...

. The loss of more than 5 million manufacturing jobs and the closure of over 50,000 manufacturing facilities have undermined our nation’s technical capacity to innovate and to make things, while at the same time decimating our middle class.

Flawed trade and tax policies and a financial system focused on short-term profits drove good jobs offshore, led to record trade deficits, and left the economy in ruins. With the manufacturing share of the nation’s gross domestic profit (GDP) withering to 12 percent (from 15.9 percent in 1995) and the financial sector growing to 22 percent, the structure of the U.S. economy looks more like Monaco than Germany. This growth model of asset bubbles, low wages, credit pyramids, toxic assets and unregulated, out-of-control global capital has been a recipe for disaster.

There is a reason every other developed and advanced developing nation has a manufacturing strategy. Most governments see manufacturing as key to long-term growth, and they target investment in industries and technology. In contrast, the U.S. government abandoned strategy to market forces and left workers and communities hanging without a safety net.

There was a time this nation thought big-investing in its people, infrastructure, technology and manufacturing. We must do so again but we need to recognize that the world has changed. For example, the rest of the world leads in mass transit technology and the United States is home to only two of the 10 largest solar photo-voltaic producers, only one of the top 10 advanced battery manufacturers and only two of the top 10 wind turbine producers. If we want to be world leaders in clean technology and have transportation systems to match then we must think strategically and at scale.

Over the next decade our nation is poised to invest $2 trillion in health care, infrastructure and a greener economy. The nation must take tough and strategic steps to create good jobs, fix our trade and tax laws and rebuild our productive capacity. Governments must restructure and regulate financial systems so that long-term investment is rewarded and gambling is not subsidized. We must use our financial resources to develop and deploy domestically-produced technology and, if there is better technology overseas, use our financial leverage to get those production systems located here. We must think strategically and regionally about industry development so we utilize existing pools of displaced skilled workers, engineering talent and idled plants. And, finally, we must never again lose sight of the fact that it matters where things are made.

16 comments on this story

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PAM Q. 3 months, 1 week ago on Wordpress

Remember the Million Man March? I think we need a Billion Man March on Washington to stop the Free Trade fiasco and bring jobs back to America. Any Country that refuses to represent its own people in favor of foreign interests should be brought to its knees. A show of force in Washington would get the attention of Corporate CEO’s as well as our traitorous Congress.

As a small business ... See all content Hide content

leslie 3 months, 1 week ago on Friendfeed

Where Things Are Made - http://blog.aflcio.org/2009...

Steve Neubeck 3 months, 1 week ago on Wordpress

the late engineer and economist Seymour Melman wrote about the condition we find ourselves in profitswithout production.Look what happened in the last 18 months

Bruce Miller 3 months, 1 week ago on Wordpress

Corporate America has been offloading jobs at an ever increasing rate for the past forty years.

There is only one way to solve this problem that I can see. That is to make a federal requirement that in order to maintain your corporate license, 80% of your product has to be made in the United States. This would bring the jobs back home.

zebra8835 3 months, 1 week ago on Wordpress

Every morning I awaken to the sound of my alarm clock made in Taiwan. Then put on my J.C. Penny underwear made in Viet Nam and my Hane’s socks made in India before I slide into my Dickies work pants made in Mexico. Then I put on my Sears flannel shirt made in Jamaica and belt made in Sri Lanka.

Then I grab my 18 Volt De Walt drill made in China and Irwin drill bits made in Brazil and ... See all content Hide content

almassa 3 months, 1 week ago on Wordpress

I AM A RETIRED INDUSTRIAL WORKER AND A MEMBER OF NYCARA(AN AFL-CIO GROUP OF RETIREES)IN NY CITY. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS I CONSTANTLY POINTED OUT TO THE PUBLIC WORKERS IN OUR CHAPTER THAT WHEN FACTORY WORKERS WERE LOSING THEIR JOBS PUBLIC WORKERS DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO SUPPORT OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN INDUSTRY. I WARNED THEM THAT THEY WOULD BE NEXT. WHATS HAPPENING NOW IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND ... See all content Hide content

Dr 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

Why doesn’t someone tell the American people where products they think are made here, are really made.The ford Fusion given credit for reviving FORD MOTORS and their best selling car is completely built in MEXICO.How many of you own one?At least they didn’t take any bailout money.

haakon59 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

I agree, manufacturing of all types needs to come back and of course, new green tecnologies of various types also need to be employed. We need to begin to start caring about workers living in America.

health_check 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

And here the country is trying to pull out of a recession, and companies are getting rid of US workers.

uberVU - social comments 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Wordpress

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This post was mentioned on Twitter by PeoplesWorld: AFL-CIO: Where Things Are Made http://bit.ly/PqWZm...

mamorico 3 months, 2 weeks ago on Twitter

Important! Please read! Where Things Are Made http://tinyurl.com/yf3bkzx #p2 #topprog

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