American Pie: It's 2012 - Do You Know Where Your Job Is?
...A faltering economy and millions of people out of work is in large part due to the erosion of our manufacturing base. Almost every day we hear the cry “Where are the jobs?” Anyone with the least amount of acumen would know that the jobs are gone, and it will take years and a lot of rethinking before they come back...
Columnist John Merchant foresees a bleak future for jobs, manufacturing and the economy in America.
In the US, the high level of imports from China, and our negative balance of trade with that country is like a simmering kettle. It comes to the boil whenever the US national debt is being discussed, and boils over when some imports have a deleterious effect on the nation’s health.
As examples, toxic sheetrock, the use of lead paint on toys, and contaminate milk products come to mind. In the area where I live, whole housing developments were affected by the sheetrock problem, and builders were bankrupted by having to bear the cost of replacing it. The owners who had already moved in were displaced, incurring expense and disruption of their lives.
These high profile cases loom large in the public consciousness, and predictably become a political football, but in reality are just the tip of the iceberg. Less noticeable are the millions of other products that rarely get a mention.
This came forcibly to my attention last Christmas. My wife belongs to a women’s organization that has a toy drive every year. Each member purchases one or more toys that are donated to deprived children as Christmas gifts.
Accordingly, we went to a store with a very large toy department. Their shelves carried everything from a slate and chalk to radio controlled robots, boats and cars, and everything in between. Lead painted toys from China were still an issue, so we combed the racks looking for American made products.
In the whole selection we found just three products that weren’t made overseas. To be fair, the rest weren’t all made in China, but most were.
I like to work with my hands, and so I’m always on the lookout for new tools or devices that will make my work easier or better. Not far from my home is a large store that stocks a broad spectrum of tools and machinery. Drills, saws, tile cutters, compressors, files, ladders, cranes; you name it they have it.
The products all have solid sounding American brand names – Chicago Electric, Pittsburgh, Central Pneumatic – names that evoke the glory days of American manufacturing, when the mid-west was able to satisfy the needs of the indigenous market for tools and appliances. All the products in this store are made in China.
As an occasional shopper there, I signed up for their weekly mail catalogue. This week’s copy has 24 pages. Each page lists between 20 and 40 products. The page I’m looking at now has electric fans, solar panels, a steam carpet cleaner, paint brushes, a wheelchair, wireless headphones – and on and on.
Prices are a fraction of similar US, or European products. An angle grinder that I might pay $250 or more for from a US manufacturer, lists at $19.99. Is it comparable? Most likely not, though the deficiencies, if they exist, are well hidden. Perhaps the bearings and brushes won’t last as long. But superficially, the product looks good, and for an occasional user like me, could last years.
The ongoing dialogue as to why we import so much from China and elsewhere, and why our indigenous manufacturers have set up plants overseas, has many facets, and there is no shortage of what or who to blame.
While unions have done an excellent job of protecting workers, they have also given in to greed and power, forcing manufacturer to flee to less threatening labor locations. Greed is also a motivator for corporations to increase their profit margins, pressured by equally greedy shareholders.
Product quality has also been a factor in the past. First the Japanese, then China have invested millions in quality control systems, which has attracted corporations like Nike and Apple, whose products require a level of quality assurance not found in the USA until around the late 1900’s, when many companies adopted the European system ISO 9000.
But the real engine that’s driving offshore manufacturing is the market. While ever consumers insist on paying as little as possible for goods, shoddy though they may be, suppliers will be forced to cut costs anyway they can to maintain their bottom line.
The peril in this is upon the USA right now. A faltering economy and millions of people out of work is in large part due to the erosion of our manufacturing base. Almost every day we hear the cry “Where are the jobs?” Anyone with the least amount of acumen would know that the jobs are gone, and it will take years and a lot of rethinking before they come back.
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Do visit John's Web site
http://home.comcast.net/~jwmerchant/site/
